ROBERT  ERNEST    GOWM 


DR.  JOHN  McLOUGHLIN 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Taken  from   a   daguerreotype   of  Dr.    John    AlcLougliliii 
year  before  his  death.       The   original  daguerreotype  belongs  to  M 
Portland,  Oregon,  a  granddaughter  of  Dr.  McLoughlin. 


made  in  /S^6,  about  a 
Josiuh  My  rick  of 


DR.  JOHN  McLOUGHLIN 

the  Father  of  Oregon 


BY 


FREDERICK  V.  HOLMAN 

Director  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  and  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society 


IFith  Portraits 


Cleveland,  Ohio 

The  Arthur  H.  Clark  Company 

1907 


COPYRIGHT,    1907,   BY 

FREDERICK  V.  HOLMAN 


ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 


en 


rO  the  true  J  good^  brave  Oregon  Pioneers 
of  184J,  1844^  ^84^^  and  1846,  whose 
coming  in  the  time  of  ioint-occupancy 
*"!  did  so  much  to  help  save  Oregon  and  assisted 
^  in  making  it  what  it  is  today;  whose  affections 
S  and  regards  for  Dr.  John  McLaughlin  and 
^  whose  remembrances  and  heartfelt  appreciations 
'^,  of  his  humanity  and  kindness  to  them  and  theirs 
can  and  could  end  only  with  their  deaths,  this 
volume  is  most  respectfully  dedicated. 


'i'>8r5r59 


CONTENTS 

PREFACE 
TEXT 

Early  Settlements  and  Joint-occupancy  of  the 

Oregon   Country  . 
The  Hudson^s  Bay  Company  and  the  Northwest 

Company  .... 

Genealogy  and  Family  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

McLoUGHLIN   and  THE   OrEGON   CoUNTRY 

Fort  Vancouver        .... 

Punishment  of  Indians 

Early  French  Canadian  Settlers    . 

Early  American  Traders  and  Travellers    . 

Presbyterian  Missionaries    . 

Methodist  Missions  and  Missionaries 

Provisional  Government 

IlVftVIIGRATION  OF   1 842  . 

Immigration  of  1843  . 

Immigration  of  1844  . 

Immigration  of  1845  . 

The  Quality  of  the  Early  Immigrants 

The  Resignation  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin. 

Dr.  McLoughlin's  Religion  . 

Dr.  McLoughlin^s  Land  Claim 

Abernethy  Island     .... 

The  Shortess  Petition 

Land  Laws  of  the  Provisional  Government. 

Dr.  McLoughlin's  Naturalization  . 


15 
19 

20 

21 
22 

25 

27 

35 
41 
45 
53 
54 
64 
69 
70 
78 
81 

83 
90 
98 

lOI 

114 
116 
119 
120 


lo  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Conspiracy  against  Dr.  McLoughlin 

Thurston's  Letter  to  Congress 

Protests  against  Thurston's  Actions 

The  Oregon  Donation  Land  Law     . 

The  Conspiracy  Effective    . 

Career  and  Death  of  Thurston     . 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  . 

Dr.  McLoughlin's  Memorial  to  Congress 

The  Persecution  Continued 

The  End  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  Life  . 

Justice  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's  Memory 

Opinions  by  Dr.  McLoughlin's  Contemporaries 

Eulogy  upon  Dr.  McLoughlin 


122 

123 

137 
140 

143 
144 
146 
149 
152 
154 
159 
162 
169 


ILLUSTRATIVE  DOCUMENTS  REFERRED  TO  IN 
THE  TEXT: 

A:  Article  3  of  Convention  of  October  20,  181 8,  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great  Britian       .  175 

B;     Convention  of  August  6,  1827,  between  the  United 

States  and  Great  Britian        .  .  '175 

C:  Statement  concerning  merger  of  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  Northwest  Company;  and  grant 
to  Hudson's  Bay  Company  of  1821  and  1838 
to  trade  in  the  Oregon  Country  .  .176 

D:     Excerpts  from  Manuscript  Journal  of  Rev.  Jason 

Lee  .....  180 

E:  Rev.  Jason  Lee's  visit  to  Eastern  States  in  1838; 
and  his  report  to  the  Missionary  Board  at  New 
York  in  1844  .  .  .  .185 

F:  Excerpts  from  Narrative  of  Commodore  Charles 
Wilkes,  U.S.N.,  published  in  Philadelphia  in 
1845  .  .  .  .  .190 

G:     Letter  from  Henry  Brallier  to  Frederick  V.  Hol- 

man  of  October  27,  1905        .  .  .  196 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  ii 


H:  Shortess  Petition;  excerpts  from  Gray's  "History 
of  Oregon"  relating  to  Shortess  Petition;  and 
excerpt  from  speech  of  Samuel  R.  Thurston  in 
Congress,  December  26,  1850,  as  to  author  of 
Shortess  Petition        .  .  .  .198 

I:  Ricord's  Proclamation;  letters  of  A.  Lawrence 
Lovejoy  and  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  of  March  20, 
1844;  Ricord's  Caveat;  invalidity  of  Waller's 
claim  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's  land;  and  excerpts 
from  letters  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee  to  Rev.  A.  F. 
Waller  and  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines,  written  in 
^^44  •  •  .  .  .  212 

J:  Agreement  between  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  Rev. 
A.  F.  Waller,  and  Rev.  David  Leslie,  of  April 
4,  1 844 ;  statement  of  cause  and  manner  of  mak- 
ing said  agreement     ....  224 

K:     Statement  of  career  in  Oregon  of  Judge  W.  P. 

Bryant  .  .  .  .  .  228 

L:     Letter  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  published  in  the 

"Oregon  Spectator"  Thursday,   September   12, 

1850  .  .  .  .  .  229 

M :     Letter  by  William  J.    Berry,    published    in    the 

"Oregon  Spectator,"  December  26,  1850         .  243 

N:     Excerpts  from  speech  of  Samuel  R.  Thurston  in 

Congress,  December  26,  1850  .  .  246 

O:  Correspondence  of  S.  R.  Thurston,  Nathaniel  J. 
Wyeth,  Robert  C.  Winthrop  and  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin,  published  in  the  "Oregon  Spec- 
tator," April  3,  1 85 1  .  .  .256 

P:     Letter  from  Rev.  Vincent  Snelling  to  Dr.  John 

McLoughlin  of  March  9,  1852  .  .  262 

Q:  Excerpts  from  "The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and 
Vancouver's  Island"  by  James  Edward  Fitz- 
gerald, published  in  London  in  1849;  and  ex- 
cerpt from  "Ten  Years  in  Oregon,"  by  Rev. 


12  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Daniel  Lee  and  Rev.  J,   H.  Frost,  published 

in  New  York  in  1844  .  .  .  264 

R:  Note  on  Authorship  of  "History  of  Oregon"  in 
Bancroft's  Works;  and  sources  of  information 
for  this  monograph    ....  270 

S:     Excerpts  from  opinions  of  contemporaries  of  Dr. 

McLoughlin  ....  272 

INDEX        .  .  .  .  .  .  287 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Portrait  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  taken  from  daguerreo- 
type of  1856;  from  original  belonging  to  Mrs.  Josiah  My- 
rick,  Portland,  Oregon  Frontispiece 

Portrait  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  taken  from  minia- 
ture painted  on  ivory,  1838  or  1839;  from  original  belong- 
ing to  Mrs.  James  W.  McL.  Harvey,  Mirabel,  California. 

facing  p.  62 


PREFACE 

This  is  a  plain  and  simple  narrative  of  the  life 
of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  and  of  his  noble  career 
in  the  early  history  of  Oregon.  The  writing  of  it 
is  a  labor  of  love  on  my  part,  for  I  am  Oregon- 
born.  A  number  of  my  near  relatives  came  to  Ore- 
gon overland  in  the  immigrations  of  1843,  i84S> 
and  1846.  My  father  and  mother  came  overland 
in  1846.  The  one  great  theme  of  the  Oregon 
pioneers  was  and  still  is  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  his 
humanity.  I  came  so  to  know  of  him  that  I  could 
almost  believe  I  had  known  him  personally. 

He,  the  father  of  Oregon,  died  September 
third,  1857,  yet  his  memory  is  as  much  respected 
as  though  his  death  were  of  recent  occurrence.  In 
Oregon  he  will  never  be  forgotten.  He  is  known 
in  Oregon  by  tradition  as  well  as  by  history.  His 
deeds  are  a  part  of  the  folk-lore  of  Oregon.  His 
life  is  an  essential  part  of  the  early,  the  heroic  days 
of  early  Oregon.  I  know  of  him  from  the  conver- 
sations of  pioneers,  who  loved  him,  and  from  the 
numerous  heart-felt  expressions  at  the  annual 
meetings  of  the  Oregon  pioneers,  beginning  with 
their  first  meeting.  For  years  I  have  been  collect- 
ing and  reading  books  on  early  Oregon  and  the 
Pacific   Northwest   Coast.     I    am   familiar  with 


1 6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

many  letters  and  rare  documents  in  the  possession 
of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society  relating  to  events 
in  the  time  of  the  settlement  of  Oregon,  and  con- 
taining frequent  references  to  Dr.  McLoughlin. 

October  sixth,  1905,  was  set  apart  as  McLough- 
lin Day  by  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition,  at 
Portland,  Oregon.  I  had  the  honor  to  be  selected 
to  deliver  the  address  on  that  occasion.  In  writ- 
ing that  address  I  was  obliged  to  familiarize  my- 
self with  exact  knowledge  of  dates  and  other  im- 
portant circumstances  connected  with  the  life  and 
times  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  In  writing  it,  although 
I  endeavored  to  be  concise,  the  story  grew  until 
it  went  beyond  the  proper  length  for  an  address, 
and  so  I  condensed  it  for  oral  delivery  on  Mc- 
Loughlin Day. 

Since  that  time  I  have  largely  rewritten  it,  and, 
while  not  changing  the  style  essentially,  I  have 
added  to  it  so  that  it  has  become  a  short  history. 
For  the  benefit  of  those  interested  in  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin  and  the  history  of  early  Oregon,  I 
have  added  notes  and  many  documents.  The  lat- 
ter show  some  of  the  sources  from  which  I  have 
drawn,  but  only  some  of  them.  They  are  neces- 
sary to  a  thorough  understanding,  particularly,  as 
to  the  causes  of  his  tribulations,  and  of  what  is 
due  to  him  as  a  great  humanitarian,  and  of  his 
great  services  in  the  upbuilding  of  Oregon. 

I  have  been  kindly  assisted  by  men  and  women 
still  living  who  knew  him  personally,  by  those  who 
gladly  bear  witness  to  what  he  was  and  what  he 
did,  and  by  those  who  have  studied  his  life  and 
times  as  a  matter  of  historical  interest. 


Preface  1 7 

The  full  history  of  the  life  of  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin  will  be  written  in  the  future.  Such 
a  history  will  have  all  the  interest  of  a  great  ro- 
mance. It  begins  in  happiness  and  ends  in  martyr- 
dom. It  is  so  remarkable  that  one  unacquainted 
with  the  facts  might  doubt  if  some  of  these  mat- 
ters I  have  set  forth  could  be  true.  Unfortunately 
they  are  true. 

Frederick  V.  Holman 

Portland,  Oregon,  January,  1907. 


DR.  JOHN  McLOUGHLIN 

The  story  of  the  life  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 
comprises  largely  the  history  of  Oregon  begin- 
ning in  the  time  of  joint-occupancy  of  the  Oregon 
Country,  and  continuing  until  after  the  boundary 
treaty  dividing  the  Oregon  Country  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Oregon  Territorial  Government,  and 
the  passage  of  the  Oregon  Donation  Law.  It  re- 
lates directly  to  events  in  Oregon  from  1824  until 
the  death  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  in  1857,  and  inci- 
dentally to  what  occurred  in  Oregon  as  far  back 
as  the  founding  of  Astoria  in  181 1. 

Prior  to  the  Treaty  of  1846  between  the  United 
States  and  England  fixing  the  present  northern 
boundary  line  of  the  United  States  west  of  th€ 
Rocky  Mountains,  what  was  known  as  the  "Oregon 
Country"  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  north  lati- 
tude forty-two  degrees,  the  present  northern 
boundary  of  the  states  of  California  and  Nevada; 
on  the  north  by  latitude  fifty-four  degrees  and 
forty  minutes,  the  present  southern  boundary 
of  Alaska;  on  the  east  by  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains; and  on  the  west  by  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
It  included  all  of  the  states  of  Oregon,  Washing- 
ton, and  Idaho,  and  parts  of  the  states  of  Mon- 


20  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

tana  and  Wyoming,  and  all  of  the  present  Domin- 
ion of  Canada  between  latitudes  forty-nine  degrees 
and  fifty-four  degrees  forty  minutes,  and  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Its  area  was  approximately 
four  hundred  thousand  square  miles,  an  area  about 
twenty-five  per  cent,  greater  than  that  of  the  orig- 
inal thirteen  colonies  at  the  time  of  the  American 
Revolution. 

Early  Settlements  and  Joint-occupancy  of  the  Ore- 
gon Country. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  on  the  Columbia 
River  was  made  by  the  Pacific  Fur  Company, 
which  was  organized  and  controlled  by  John  Jacob 
Astor.  It  founded  Astoria  March  22,  181 1.  Oc- 
tober 16,  1813,  during  the  war  of  1812,  the  estab- 
lishments of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  in  the  Ore- 
gon Country,  and  all  its  furs  and  supplies,  were 
sold,  at  less  than  one-third  of  their  value,  to  the 
Northwest  Company,  of  Montreal,  by  the  treach- 
ery of  Duncan  McDougal,  a  partner  of  Astor  in 
the  Pacific  Fur  Company.  December  i,  1813, 
the  British  sloop-of-war  Raccoon  arrived  at 
Astoria  and  took  formal  possession  of  it  in  the 
name  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain.  The  captain 
of  the  Raccoon  changed  the  name  of  Astoria  to 
that  of  Fort  George.  Its  name  is  now  Astoria. 
The  Northwest  Company  continued  to  carry  on 
its  business  at  Fort  George  and  at  other  points 
in  the  Oregon  Country  until  its  coalition  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  1821. 

The  treaty  of  peace  betv^^een  the  United  States 
and  England  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war  of  18 12 
was  signed  at  Ghent,  December  24,   18 14.     It  is 


Dr.  John  McLoughltn  21 

known  as  the  "Treaty  of  Ghent."  Under  this 
treaty  Great  Britain,  on  October  6,  18 18,  formally 
restored  to  the  United  States  "the  settlement  of 
Fort  George  on  the  Columbia  River."  A  Conven- 
tion between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
was  signed  October  20,  1818.  That  Convention 
provided  that  the  Oregon  Country  should  be  free 
and  open,  for  the  period  of  ten  years,  to  the  citi- 
zens and  subjects  of  the  two  countries,  being  what 
is  called  for  convenience  joint-occupancy  by  the 
two  countries.^  Another  Convention  between  the 
two  countries  was  made  in  1827,  by  which  this 
joint-occupancy  was  continued  indefinitely,  sub- 
ject to  termination  after  October  20,  1828,  by 
either  the  United  States  or  Great  Britain  giving 
to  the  other  twelve  months'  notice.^  In  April, 
1846,  Congress  passed  a  joint  resolution  giving  the 
President  authority,  at  his  discretion,  to  give  such 
notice  to  the  British  Government.  Under  the  au- 
thority of  this  resolution  President  Polk  signed  a 
notice,  dated  April  28,  1846,  which  by  its  term.s 
was  to  go  into  efifect  from  and  after  its  delivery  to 
the  British  Government  at  London.  June  6,  1846, 
the  British  Government  proposed  the  present 
boundary.  This  was  accepted  by  the  American 
Government.  The  treaty  was  signed  at  Washing- 
ton, June  15,  1846. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Northwest 
Company. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  established  in 
1670  under  a  charter  granted  by  King  Charles  II. 

'  See  Document  A  at  end  of  volume. 
'  See  Document  B. 


22  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

The  Northwest  Company  was  formed  in  Montreal 
in  1783-4.  It  became  the  great  rival  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  Warfare  occurred  between 
the  two  companies^  beginning  in  18 15.  A  compro- 
mise was  finally  effected  and  in  1821  the  North- 
west Company  coalesced  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.*  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  a  partner  of 
the  Northwest  Company  and  opposed  the  coalition 
in  a  most  determined  manner.  He  would  not  sign 
the  final  agreement,  as  he  considered  it  unfair  to 
himself  and  to  his  associates  in  the  Northwest 
Company.  But  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  knew 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  his  resolution,  his  power,  and 
his  capacity,  and  it  employed  him  as  Chief  Factor 
to  manage  and  to  build  up  the  Company's  business 
in  the  Oregon  Country.  He  was  given  plenary 
powers.  He  was  the  man  for  the  place  and  the 
time. 

Genealogy  and  Family  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin. 
Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  born  October  19, 
1784,  in  Parish  La  Riviere  du  Loup,  Canada, 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  below  Quebec, 
on  the  south  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  He 
was  baptized  November  3,  1784,  at  the  Parish  of 
Kamouraska,  Canada,  there  being  no  Roman 
Catholic  priest  at  La  Riviere  du  Loup.  Both  of 
his  parents  were  Roman  Catholics.  His  father 
was  John  McLoughlin,  a  native  of  Ireland.  Of 
him  little  is  now  known,  excepting  that  he  was  a 
man  of  high  character.  He  was  accidentally 
drowned  in  the  St.  Lawrence  River.    The  date  I 


*  See  Document  C. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  23 

have  been  unable  to  ascertain.  It  was  probably 
while  his  son  John  was  quite  young.  For  conven- 
ience I  shall  hereinafter  speak  of  John  McLough- 
lin, the  younger,  as  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  or  Dr. 
McLoughlin.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Angelique  Fraser.  She  was  a  very  fine  woman. 
She  was  born  in  the  Parish  of  Beaumont,  Canada, 
and  died  in  Canada,  July  3,  1842,  aged  83  years. 
Her  father  was  Malcolm  Fraser,  a  native  of  Scot- 
land. At  the  time  of  his  retirement  from  the  army 
and  settlement  in  Canada,  in  1763,  he  was  a  cap- 
tain in  the  84th  regiment  of  the  British  regular 
army.  He  was  at  one  time  a  lieutenant  in  the 
78th  regiment,  known  as  the  Fraser  Highland- 
ers. He  spelled  his  name  with  two  "f's"  - 
Ffraser.  His  daughter  was  also  related  to  Gen. 
Fraser,  one  of  Burgoyne's  principal  officers,  who 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  October  7, 

^777- 
Dr.  John  McLoughlin's  father  and  mother  had 

seven  children,  of  which  five  were  daughters ;  the 
youngest  daughter  died  while  young.  He  was  the 
second  child,  the  eldest  son,  his  only  brother, 
David,  being  the  third  child.  It  is  probable  that 
Dr.  John  McLoughlin  and  his  brother  David 
were  brought  up  in  the  home  of  their  maternal 
grandfather.  Their  only  maternal  uncle  was 
Samuel  Fraser,  M.  D.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in 
the  Royal  Highland  Regiment  (the  famous  "Black 
Watch"  regiment).  He  took  part  in  all  the  en- 
gagements fought  by  that  regiment  from  1795  to 
1803,  if^  the  Napoleonic  wars.  Their  maternal  rel- 
atives seem  to  have  exercised  a  strong  influence  on 


24  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

both  young  John  and  David  McLoughlin.  They 
both  became  physicians.  David  served  in  the 
British  army,  and,  after  the  Battle  of  Waterloo, 
practiced  medicine  in  Paris,  France.  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin  was  educated  in  Canada  and  Scot- 
land. He  joined  the  Northv^est  Company,  which 
was  composed  and  controlled  by  very  active,  prac- 
tical, and  forceful  men.  In  1821  he  was  in  charge 
of  Fort  William,  the  chief  depot  and  factory  of  the 
Northwest  Company,  when  that  Company  coal- 
esced with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Fort  Wil- 
liam is  situated  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, at  the  mouth  of  the  Kaministiquia  River.  It 
was  at  Fort  William,  where  he  was  stationed  for  a 
long  time,  that  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
widow  of  Alexander  McKay.  Dr.  McLoughlin 
married  her,  the  exact  date  I  have  been  unable  to 
ascertain.  Alexander  McKay  was  a  partner  of 
John  Jacob  Astor  in  the  Pacific  Fur  Company. 
He  was  killed  in  the  capture,  by  Indians,  of  the 
ship  Tonquin  in  June,  181 1,  at  Clayoquot  Sound, 
on  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver's  Island. 

Dr.  John  McLoughlin  and  wife  had  four  chil- 
dren, whose  names  in  order  of  birth  were  as  fol- 
lows: Eliza,  John,  Eloisa,  and  David.  They  are 
all  dead.  Eliza  McLoughlin  married  Captain 
Epps,  an  officer  in  the  English  army.  John 
McLoughlin,  Jr.,  was  murdered  in  April,  1842, 
at  Fort  Stikeen,  where  he  was  in  charge.  Eloisa 
McLoughlin  was  Dr.  McLoughlin's  favorite 
child.  She  was  married  to  William  Glen  Rae  at 
Fort  Vancouver  in  1838.  Rae  was  appointed, 
after  his  marriage,  a  Chief  Trader  of  the  Hudson's 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  25 


Bay  Company.    In  1841  he  was  sent  to  California 
to  take  charge  of  the  Company's  business  at  Yerba 
Buena,   now  San   Francisco.     He    continued    in 
charge  there  until  his  death  in  1844.    All  of  their 
children  are  dead,  excepting  two-  Mrs.  Theodore 
Wygant  and  Mrs.  Josiah  Myrick,  both  now  living 
in  Portland.     In  October,   1850,   Mrs.   Rae  was 
married   to   Daniel   Harvey.     There  were  three 
children  by  this  second  marriage,  all  of  whom  are 
now  dead.    Daniel  Harvey  died  prior  to  his  wife. 
She  died  at  Portland  in  October,  1884.    In  Port- 
land and  its  vicinity  there  are  now  living  several 
children  of  Mrs.  Wygant  and  Mrs.  Myrick,  and 
also  several  grandchildren  of  Mrs.  Wygant.     At 
Mirabel,   Sonoma  County,  California,  there  are 
now  living  a  son,  a  daughter,  and  also  the  widow 
of  James   W.   McL.    Harvey,   a   son   of   Daniel 
and  Eloisa  Harvey.    A  son  of  Mrs.  Myrick  is  liv- 
ing at  Los  Angeles,  California.    David  McLough- 
lin,  the  youngest  child  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  was 
educated  in  England.     He  returned  to  Oregon, 
and  later  made  his  home  in  Idaho,  where  he  died 
at  an  advanced  age. 

Dr.  McLouglin  and  the  Oregon  Country. 

Physically  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  a  superb 
specimen  of  man.  His  height  was  not  less  than  six 
feet  four  inches.  He  carried  himself  as  a  master, 
which  gave  him  an  appearance  of  being  more  than 
six  feet  and  a  half  high.  He  was  almost  perfectly 
proportioned.  Mentally  he  was  endowed  to  match 
his  magnificent  physical  proportions.  He  was 
brave  and  fearless;  he  was  true  and  just;   he  was 


26  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

truthful  and  scorned  to  lie.  The  Indians,  as  well 
as  his  subordinates,  soon  came  to  know  that  if  he 
threatened  punishment  for  an  offense,  it  was  as 
certain  as  that  the  ofifense  occurred.  He  was  abso- 
lute master  of  himself  and  of  those  under  him.  He 
allowed  none  of  his  subordinates  to  question  or  to 
disobey.  This  was  necessary  to  conduct  the  busi- 
ness of  his  Company,  and  to  preserve  peace  in  the 
vast  Oregon  Country.  He  was  facile  princeps. 
And,  yet,  with  all  these  dominant  qualities,  he  had 
the  greatest  kindness,  sympathy,  and  humanity.  He 
needed  all  his  stern  and  manlike  characteristics  to 
govern  the  officers,  employees,  servants,  and  de- 
pendents of  his  Company,  and  to  conduct  its  busi- 
ness, in  the  Oregon  Country.  Here  was  a  great 
empire  in  physical  extent,  intersected  by  great 
rivers  and  chains  of  mountains.  There  was  no  one 
on  whom  he  could  depend,  except  his  under-of- 
ficers  and  the  Company's  servants.  To  him  were 
given  no  bands  of  trained  soldiers  to  govern  a 
country  half  again  larger  than  the  Empire  of  Ger- 
many, and  occupied  by  treacherous,  hostile,  crafty, 
and  cruel  savages ;  and  to  so  govern  as  not  to  be  to 
the  prejudice,  nor  to  the  exclusion,  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  nor  to  encourage  them,  nor  to 
help  them. 

When  he  first  came  to  Oregon,  it  was  not  safe 
for  the  Company's  parties  to  travel  except  in  large 
numbers  and  heavily  armed.  In  a  few  years  there 
was  practically  no  danger.  A  single  boat  loaded 
with  goods  or  furs  was  as  safe  as  a  great  flotilla  had 
been  when  he  arrived  on  the  Columbia  River  in 
1824.    It  was  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  who  did  this, 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  27 

by  his  personality,  by  his  example,  and  by  his  in- 
fluence. He  had  accomplished  all  this  when  the 
Indian  population  of  the  Oregon  Country  is  esti- 
mated to  have  been  in  excess  of  100,000,  including 
about  30,000  on  the  Columbia  River  below  its 
junction  with  Snake  River,  and  on  the  tributaries 
of  that  part  of  the  Columbia  River.  This  was 
before  the  great  epidemics  of  the  years  1829  to 
1832,  inclusive,  which  caused  the  deaths  of  great 
numbers  of  the  Indians,  especially  those  living  on 
and  near  the  lower  Columbia  River.  There  were 
no  Indian  wars  in  the  Oregon  Country  during  all 
the  time  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  in  charge  at  Fort 
Vancouver,  from  1824  to  1846.  All  the  Indian 
wars  in  the  Oregon  Country  occurred  after  he  re- 
signed from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The 
first  of  these  wars  began  with  the  Whitman  mas- 
sacre in  1847. 

When  he  came  to  Oregon,  he  was  nearly  forty 
years  old.  His  hair  was  then  almost  white,  and 
was  worn  long,  falling  almost  to  his  shoulders.  It 
did  not  take  long  for  the  Indians  to  know  him  and 
to  give  him  a  name.  To  some  of  the  Indians  he 
was  the  "White-Headed  Eagle,"  and  to  others,  the 
"Great  White  Chief." 

Fort  Vancouver. 

Dr.  McLoughlin  came  overland  to  Fort  George 
(Astoria),  arriving  there  in  1824.  He  soon  saw 
that  the  place  for  a  great  trading  and  supply  post 
should  be  further  up  the  Columbia  River.  After 
careful  surveys  in  small  boats,  he  founded  Fort 
Vancouver,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Columbia 


28  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

River,  about  seven  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Willamette  River,  and  several  miles  below  the 
point  named  Point  Vancouver  by  Lieut.  Brough- 
tan,  in  1792,  the  latter  point  being  near  the  present 
town  of  Washougal,  Washington.  In  1825  Fort 
Vancouver  was  constructed,  in  part,  and  the  goods 
and  effects  at  Fort  George  were  moved  to  Fort 
Vancouver.  The  final  completion  of  the  latter  fort 
was  not  until  a  later  period,  although  the  work 
was  carried  on  as  rapidly  as  possible.  A  few  years 
after,  about  1830,  a  new  fort  was  erected  about  a 
mile  westerly  from  the  original  fort.  Here  is  now 
located  the  present  United  States'  Military  post, 
commonly  known  as  Vancouver  Barracks. 

With  characteristic  energy  and  foresight  Dr. 
McLoughlin  soon  established  at  and  near  Fort 
Vancouver  a  large  farm  on  which  were  grown 
quantities  of  grain  and  vegetables.  It  was  after- 
wards stocked  with  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  goats,  and 
hogs.  In  1836  this  farm  consisted  of  3,000  acres, 
fenced  into  fields,  with  here  and  there  dairy  houses 
and  herdsmen's  and  shepherd's  cottages.  In  1836 
the  products  of  this  farm  were,  in  bushels :  8,000  of 
wheat;  5,500  of  barley;  6,000  of  oats;  9,000  of 
peas;  14,000  of  potatoes;  besides  large  quantities 
of  turnips  (rutabaga),  pumpkins,  etc.^  There 
were  about  ten  acres  in  apple,  pear,  and  quince 
trees,  which  bore  in  profusion.  He  established 
two  saw  mills  and  two  flour  mills  near  the  fort. 
For  many  years  there  were  shipped,  from  Fort 
Vancouver,  lumber  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  (then 

*  Report  of  Naval  Agent  W.  A.  Slocura  to  the  Secretary  of  State, 
March  26,  1837. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  29 

called  the  Sandwich  Islands)  and  flour  to  Sitka. 
It  was  not  many  years  after  Dr.  McLoughlin  came 
to  the  Oregon  Country  until  it  was  one  of  the  most 
profitable  parts  of  North  America  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  For  many  years  the  London  value 
of  the  yearly  gathering  of  furs,  in  the  Oregon 
Country,  varied  from  $500,000  to  $1,000,000,  sums 
of  money  representing  then  a  value  several  fold 
more  than  such  sums  represent  today. 

Fort  Vancouver  was  a  parallelogram  about 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  and  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  broad,  enclosed  by  an  upright  picket 
wall  of  large  and  closely  fitted  beams,  over  twenty 
feet  in  height,  secured  by  buttresses  on  the  inside. 
Originally  there  was  a  bastion  at  each  angle  of  the 
fort.  In  the  earlier  times  there  were  two  twelve 
pounders  mounted  in  these  bastions.  In  the  cen- 
ter of  the  fort  there  were  some  eighteen  pounders; 
all  these  cannon,  from  disuse,  became  merely  orna- 
mental early  in  the  thirties.^  In  1841,  when  Com- 
modore Wilkes  was  at  Fort  Vancouver,  there  were 
between  the  steps  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  residence, 
inside  the  fort,  two  old  cannon  on  sea-carriages, 
with  a  few  shot.  There  were  no  other  warlike  in- 
struments.®   It  was  a  very  peaceful  fort. 

The  interior  of  the  fort  was  divided  into  two 
courts,  having  about  forty  buildings,  all  of  wood 
except  the  powder  magazine,  which  was  con- 
structed of  brick  and  stone.  In  the  center,  facing 
the  main  entrance,  stood  the  Hall  in  which  were 
the  dining-room,  smoking-room,   and  public  sit- 

"*  Dunn's  History  of  the  Oregon  Territory,  p.  143. 
'  Wilkes's  Narrative,  iv,  p.  327. 


30  Dr.  John  McLaughlin 

ting-room,  or  bachelors  hall.  Single  men,  clerks, 
strangers,  and  others  made  the  bachelor's  hall  their 
place  of  resort.  To  these  rooms  artisans  and  serv- 
ants were  not  admitted.  The  Hall  was  the  only 
two-story  house  in  the  fort.  The  residence  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  was  built  after  the  model  of  a  French 
Canadian  dwelling-house.  It  was  one  story,  weath- 
er-boarded, and  painted  white.  It  had  a  piazza 
with  vines  growing  on  it.  There  were  flower-beds 
in  front  of  the  house.  The  other  buildings  con- 
sisted of  dwellings  for  officers  and  their  families, 
a  school-house,  a  retail  store,  warehouses  and 
shops. 

A  short  distance  from  the  fort,  on  the  bank  of 
the  river,  was  a  village  of  more  than  fifty  houses, 
for  the  mechanics  and  servants,  and  their  families, 
built  in  rows  so  as  to  form  streets.  Here  were  also 
the  hospital,  boat-house,  and  salmon-house,  and 
near  by  were  barns,  threshing-mills,  granaries,  and 
dairy  buildings.  The  whole  number  of  persons, 
having  their  homes  at  Fort  Vancouver  and  its 
vicinity,  men,  women,  and  children,  was  about 
eight  hundred.  The  Hall  was  an  oasis  in  the  vast 
social  desert  of  Oregon.  Fort  Vancouver  was  a 
fairy-land  to  the  early  travellers,  after  their  long, 
hard  journeys  across  the  continent.  Thomas  J. 
Farnham  was  a  traveller  who  came  to  Oregon  in 
1839.  He  was  entertained  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  at 
Fort  Vancouver.  In  his  account  of  his  travels, 
which  he  subsequently  published,  he  gives  the  fol- 
lowing description  of  the  usual  dinner  at  Fort 
Vancouver: 

"The  bell  rings  for  dinner;  we  will  now  pay  a 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  31 

visit  to  the  'Hall'  and  its  convivialities.  . 
At  the  end  of  a  table  twenty  feet  in  length  stands 
Governor  McLoughlin,  directing  guests  and 
gentlemen  from  neighboring  posts  to  their 
places;  and  chief-traders,  traders,  the  physician, 
clerks,  and  the  farmer  slide  respectfully  to  their 
places,  at  distances  from  the  Governor  correspond- 
ing to  the  dignity  of  their  rank  in  the  service. 
Thanks  are  given  to  God,  and  all  are  seated.  Roast 
beef  and  pork,  boiled  mutton,  baked  salmon, 
boiled  ham;  beets,  carrots,  turnips,  cabbage,  and 
potatoes,  and  wheaten  bread,  are  tastefully  dis- 
tributed over  the  table  among  a  dinner-set  of  ele- 
gant queen's  ware,  burnished  with  glittering 
glasses  and  decanters  of  various-coloured  Italian 
wines.  Course  after  course  goes  round,  .  .  . 
and  each  gentleman  in  turn  vies  with  him  in  dif- 
fusing around  the  board  a  most  generous  allowance 
of  viands,  wines,  and  warm  fellow-feeling.  The 
cloth  and  wines  are  removed  together,  cigars  are 
lighted,  and  a  strolling  smoke  about  the  premises, 
enlivened  by  a  courteous  discussion  of  some  mooted 
point  of  natural  history  or  politics,  closes  the  cere- 
monies of  the  dinner  hour  at  Fort  Vancouver." 

At  Fort  Vancouver  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  lived 
and  ruled  in  a  manner  befitting  that  of  an  old  Eng- 
lish Baron  in  feudal  times,  but  with  a  graciousness 
and  courtesy,  which,  I  fear,  were  not  always  the 
rule  with  the  ancient  Barons.  Dr.  McLoughlin 
was  a  very  temperate  man.  He  rarely  drank  any 
alcoholic  beverages,  not  even  wines.  There  was  an 
exception  one  time,  each  year,  when  the  festivities 
began  at  Fort  Vancouver  on  the   return  of  the 


32  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

brigade,  with  the  year's  furs.  He  then  drank  a 
glass  of  wine  to  open  the  festivities.  Soon  after 
he  came  to  Oregon,  from  morality  and  policy  he 
stopped  the  sale  of  liquor  to  Indians.  To  do  this 
effectually  he  had  to  stop  the  sale  of  liquor  to  all 
whites.  In  1834,  when  Wyeth  began  his  competi- 
tion with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  he  began 
selling  liquor  to  Indians,  but  at  the  request  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  Wyeth  stopped  the  sale  of  liquors  to 
Indians  as  well  as  to  the  whites.  In  1841  the 
American  trading  vessel  Thomas  Perkins,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Varney,  came  to  the  Columbia 
River  to  trade,  having  a  large  quantity  of  liquors. 
To  prevent  the  sale  to  the  Indians,  Dr.  McLough- 
lin bought  all  these  liquors  and  stored  them  at  Fort 
Vancouver.  They  were  still  there  when  Dr. 
McLoughlin  left  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in 
1846. 

Dr.  McLoughlin  soon  established  numerous 
forts  and  posts  in  the  Oregon  Country,  all  of  which 
were  tributary  to  Fort  Vancouver.  In  1839  there 
were  twenty  of  these  forts  besides  Vancouver. 
The  policy  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  to 
crush  out  all  rivals  in  trade.  It  had  an  absolute 
monopoly  of  the  fur  trade  of  British  America,  ex- 
cept the  British  Provinces,  under  acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  under  royal  grants.  But  in  the  Oregon 
Territory  its  right  to  trade  therein  was  limited  by 
the  Conventions  of  18 18  and  1827  and  by  the  act  of 
Parliament  of  July  2,  1821,  to  the  extent  that  the 
Oregon  Country  (until  one  year's  notice  was 
given)  should  remain  free  and  open  to  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  and  to  the  subjects  of  Great 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  23 

Britain,  and  the  trade  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany should  not  "be  used  to  the  prejudice  or  exclu- 
sion of  citizens  of  the  United  States  engaged  in 
such  trade."  ^  Therefore,  as  there  could  be  no 
legal  exclusion  of  American  citizens,  it  could  be 
done  only  by  occupying  the  country,  building  forts, 
establishing  trade  and  friendly  relations  with  the 
Indians,  and  preventing  rivalry  by  the  laws  of 
trade,  including  ruinous  competition.  As  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  bought  its  goods  in  large  quan- 
tities in  England,  shipped  by  sea,  and  paid  no  im- 
port duties,  it  could  sell  at  a  profit  at  comparative- 
ly low  prices.  In  addition,  its  goods  were  of  extra 
good  quality,  usually  much  better  than  those  of  the 
American  traders.  It  also  desired  to  prevent  the 
settling  of  the  Oregon  Country.  The  latter  pur- 
pose was  for  two  reasons :  to  preserve  the  fur  trade; 
and  to  prevent  the  Oregon  Country  from  being 
settled  by  Americans  to  the  prejudice  of  Great 
Britain's  claim  to  the  Oregon  Country. 

For  more  than  ten  years  after  Dr.  McLoughlin 
came  to  Oregon,  there  was  no  serious  competition 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  the  Oregon 
Country  west  of  the  Blue  Mountains.  An  occa- 
sional ship  would  come  into  the  Columbia  River 
and  depart.  At  times,  American  fur  traders  en- 
tered into  serious  competition  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  east  of  the  Blue  Mountains.  Such 
traders  were  Bonneville,  Sublette,  Smith,  Jackson, 
and  others.  They  could  be  successful,  only  partial- 
ly, against  the  competition  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.   Goods  were  often  sold  by  it  at  prices 

^  See  Document  C. 


34  I^^'  John  McLoughlin 

which  could  not  be  met  by  the  American  traders, 
except  at  a  loss.  Sometimes  more  was  paid  to  the 
Indians  for  furs  than  they  were  worth. 

Dr.  McLoughlin  was  the  autocrat  of  the  Ore- 
gon Country.  His  allegiance  was  to  his  Country 
and  to  his  Company.  He  knew  the  Americans 
had  the  legal  right  to  occupy  any  part  of  the  Ore- 
gon Country,  and  he  knew  from  the  directors  of 
his  Company,  as  early  as  1825,  that  Great  Britain 
did  not  intend  to  claim  any  part  of  the  Oregon 
Country  south  of  the  Columbia  River.  The  only 
fort  he  established  south  of  the  Columbia  River 
was  on  the  Umpqua  River.  I  do  not  wish  to  place 
Dr.  McLoughlin  on  a  pedestal,  nor  to  represent 
him  as  more  than  a  grand  and  noble  man,  ever 
true,  as  far  as  possible,  to  his  Company's  interests 
and  to  himself.  To  be  faithless  to  his  Company 
was  to  be  a  weakling  and  contemptible.  But  he 
was  not  a  servant,  nor  was  he  untrue  to  his  man- 
hood. As  Chief  Factor  he  was  "Ay,  every  inch 
a  King,"  but  he  was  also  ay,  every  inch  a  man. 
He  was  a  very  human,  as  well  as  a  very  humane 
man.  He  had  a  quick  and  violent  temper.  His 
position  as  Chief  Factor  and  his  continued  use  of 
power  often  made  him  dictatorial.  And  yet  he 
was  polite,  courteous,  gentle,  and  kind,  and  a  gen- 
tleman. He  was  an  autocrat,  but  not  an  aristo- 
crat. In  1838  Rev.  Herbert  Beaver,  who  was 
chaplain  at  Fort  Vancouver,  was  impertinent  to 
Dr.  McLoughlin  in  the  fort-yard.  Immediately 
Dr.  McLoughlin  struck  Beaver  with  a  cane.  The 
next  day  Dr.  McLoughlin  publicly  apologized  for 
this  indignity. 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  35 

Punishment  of  Indians. 

The  policy  of  the  Company,  as  well  as  that  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  was  to  keep  Americans,  espe- 
cially traders,  out  of  all  the  Oregon  Country.  The 
difference  was  that  he  believed  that  they  should 
be  kept  out  only  so  far  as  it  could  be  done  lawfully. 
But  he  did  not  allow  them  to  be  harmed  by  the 
Indians,  and,  if  the  Americans  were  so  harmed,  he 
punished  the  offending  Indians,  and  he  let  all  In- 
dians know  that  he  would  punish  for  offenses 
against  the  Americans  as  he  would  for  offenses 
against  the  British  and  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. Personally  he  treated  these  rival  traders 
with  hospitality.  In  his  early  years  in  Oregon  on 
two  occasions  he  caused  an  Indian  to  be  hanged 
for  murder  of  a  white  man.  In  1829,  when  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  vessel,  William  and 
Ann,  was  wrecked  on  Sand  Island,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  River,  and  a  part  of  her  crew 
supposed  to  have  been  murdered  and  the  wreck 
looted,  he  sent  a  well  armed  and  manned  schooner 
and  a  hundred  voyageurs  to  punish  the  Indians. 

Jedediah  S.  Smith  was  a  rival  trader  to  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  In  1828  all  his  party  of 
eighteen  men,  excepting  four,  one  of  which  was 
Smith,  were  murdered  by  the  Indians,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Umpqua  River.  All  their  goods  and 
furs  were  stolen.  These  four  survivors  arrived  at 
Fort  Vancouver,  but  not  all  together.  They  were 
all  at  the  point  of  perishing  from  exhaustion  and 
were  nearly  naked.  All  their  wants  were  at  once 
supplied,  and  they  received  the  kindest  treatment. 
When  the  first  one  arrived  Dr.  McLoughlin  sent 


36  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Indian  runners  to  the  Willamette  chiefs  to  tell 
them  to  send  their  people  in  search  of  Smith  and 
his  two  men,  and  if  found  to  bring  them  to  Fort 
Vancouver,  and  Dr.  McLoughlin  would  pay  the 
Indians;  and  also  to  tell  these  chiefs  that  if  Smith, 
or  his  men,  was  hurt  by  the  Indians,  that  Dr. 
McLoughlin  would  punish  them.  Dr.  McLough- 
lin sent  a  strong  party  to  the  Umpqua  River,  which 
recovered  these  furs.  They  were  of  large  value. 
Smith  at  his  own  instance  sold  these  furs  to  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  receiving  the  fair  value 
for  the  furs,  without  deduction.  Dr.  McLoughlin 
later  said  of  this  event  that  it  "was  done  from  a 
principle  of  Christian  duty,  and  as  a  lesson  to  the 
Indians  to  show  them  they  could  not  wrong  the 
whites  with  impunity."  The  efifect  of  this  Smith 
matter  was  far-reaching  and  long-continued.  The 
Indians  understood,  even  if  they  did  not  appre- 
ciate, that  the  opposition  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  to 
Americans  as  traders  did  not  apply  to  them  per- 
sonally. 

Dunn,  in  his  History  of  the  Oregon  Territory^ 
narrates  the  following  incident:^  "On  one  occa- 
sion an  American  vessel.  Captain  Thompson,  was 
in  the  Columbia,  trading  furs  and  salmon.  The 
vessel  had  got  aground,  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
river,  and  the  Indians,  from  various  quarters, 
mustered  with  the  intent  of  cutting  the  Americans 
off,  thinking  that  they  had  an  opportunity  of  re- 
venge, and  would  thus  escape  the  censure  of  the 

*  John  Dunn  was  an  employee  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  He 
came  from  England  to  Fort  Vancouver,  in  1830,  by  sea.  He  returned 
to  England  in  1839  or  1840.  The  first  edition  of  his  history  was  pub- 
lished in  London  in   1844. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  37 


company.  Dr.  McLoughlin,  the  governor  of  Fort 
Vancouver,  hearing  of  their  intention,  immediate- 
ly despatched  a  party  to  their  rendezvous;  and 
informed  them  that  if  they  injured  one  American, 
it  would  be  just  the  same  offence  as  if  they  had 
injured  one  of  his  servants,  and  they  w^ould  be 
treated  equally  as  enemies.  This  stunned  them; 
and  they  relinquished  their  purpose;  and  all  re- 
tired to  their  respective  homes.  Had  not  this  come 
to  the  governor's  ears  the  Americans  must  have 
perished." 

In    1842   the   Indians   in   the   Eastern   Oregon 
Country  became  alarmed  for  the  reason  that  they 
believed   the   Americans   intended   to   take   away 
their  lands.    The  Indians  knew  that  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  and  its  employees  were  traders  and 
did  not  care  for  lands,  except  as  incidental  to  trad- 
ing.   At  this  time  some  of  the  Indians  desired  to 
raise  a  war  party  and  surprise  and  massacre  the 
American  settlements  in  the  Willamette  Valley. 
This  could  have  been  done  easily  at  that  time. 
Through  the  influence  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  with 
Peopeomoxmox  (Yellow  Serpent),  a  chief  of  the 
Cayuses,  this  trouble  was  averted.    In  1845  a  party 
of  Indians  went  to  California  to  buy  cattle.    An 
American  there  killed  Elijah,  the  son  of  Peopeo- 
moxmox.   The  Indians  of  Eastern  Oregon  threat- 
ened to  take  two  thousand  warriors  to  California 
and  exterminate  the  whites  there.  Largely  through 
the  actions  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  the  Indians  were 
persuaded  to  abandon  their  project. 

John  Minto,  a  pioneer  of  1844,  in  an  address 
February  6,  1889,  narrated  the  following  incident. 


;i585r^9 


38  Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 

In  1843  two  Indians,  for  the  purpose  of  robbery,  at 
Pillar  Rock,  in  the  lower  Columbia,  killed  a  serv- 
ant of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  One  of  the 
Indians  was  killed  in  the  pursuit.  The  other  was 
taken,  after  great  trouble.  There  was  no  doubt 
as  to  his  guilt.  In  order  to  make  the  lesson  of  his 
execution  salutary  and  impressive  to  the  Indians, 
Dr.  McLoughlin  invited  the  leading  Indians  of 
the  various  tribes,  as  well  as  all  classes  of  settlers 
and  missionaries,  to  be  present.  He  made  the  ar- 
rangements for  the  execution  in  a  way  best  calcu- 
lated to  strike  terror  to  the  Indian  mind.  When 
all  was  ready,  and  immediately  prior  to  the  execu- 
tion, with  his  white  head  bared,  he  made  a  short 
and  earnest  address  to  the  Indians,  showing  them 
that  the  white  men  of  all  classes.  Englishmen, 
Americans,  and  Frenchmen,  were  as  one  man  to 
punish  such  crimes.  In  a  technical  sense  Dr. 
McLoughlin  had  no  authority  to  cause  Indians 
to  be  executed  or  to  compel  them  to  restore  stolen 
goods,  as  in  the  William  and  Ann  matter  and  the 
Jedediah  S.  Smith  case. 

Under  the  act  of  Parliament  of  July,  1821,  the 
courts  of  judicature  of  Upper  Canada  were  given 
jurisdiction  of  civil  and  criminal  matters  within 
the  Indian  territories  and  other  parts  of  America 
not  within  the  Provinces  of  Lower  or  Upper  Can- 
ada, or  of  any  civil  government  of  the  United 
States.  Provisions  were  made  for  the  appointment 
of  justices  of  the  peace  in  such  territories,  having 
jurisdiction  of  suits  or  actions  not  exceeding  two 
hundred  pounds,  and  having  jurisdiction  of  or- 
dinary criminal  ofifenses.     But  it  was  expressly 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  39 

provided  that  such  justices  of  the  peace  should  not 
have  the  right  to  try  offenders  on  any  charge  of 
felony  made  the  subject  of  capital  punishment,  or 
to  pass  sentence  affecting  the  life  of  any  offender, 
or  his  transportation;  and  that  in  case  of  any  of- 
fense, subjecting  the  person  committing  the  same 
to  capital  punishment  or  to  transportation,  to  cause 
such  offender  to  be  sent,  in  safe  custody,  for  trial 
in  the  court  of  the  Province  of  Upper  Canada.  As 
to  how  far  this  law  applied  to  Indians  or  to  others 
than  British  subjects  or  to  residents  of  the  Oregon 
Country  under  joint-occupancy,  it  is  not  necessary 
here  to  discuss.  It  certainly  did  not  apply  to  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States.  So  far  as  I  can  learn, 
Dr.  McLoughlin  was  never  appointed  such  a  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  but  he  caused  his  assistant  James 
Douglas  to  be  so  appointed,  at  Fort  Vancouver. 

As  under  joint-occupancy  it  was  doubtful  if 
either  the  laws  of  the  United  States  or  of  Great 
Britain  were  in  force  in  the  Oregon  Country,  it 
was  necessary  for  some  one  to  assume  supreme 
power  and  authority  over  the  Indians,  in  the  Wil- 
lamette Valley,  until  the  Oregon  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment was  established,  and  over  the  remainder 
of  the  Oregon  Country,  at  least,  until  the  boundary- 
line  treaty  was  made.  It  was  characteristic  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  that  he  assumed  and  exercised  such 
power  and  authority,  until  he  ceased  to  be  an  of- 
ficer of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  He  did  so 
without  question.  It  is  true  that  this  might  have 
been  an  odious  tyranny  under  a  different  kind  of 
a  man.  Under  Dr.  McLoughlin  it  was  a  kind  of 
despotism,  but    a    just  and  beneficent  despotism. 


40  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

under  the  circumstances.  It  was  a  despotism  tem- 
pered by  his  sense  of  justice,  his  mercy,  his  human- 
ity, and  his  common-sense.  No  man  in  the  Oregon 
Country  ever  knew  the  Indian  character,  or  knew 
how  to  control  and  to  manage  Indians  as  well  as 
Dr.  McLoughlin  did.  The  few  severe  and  ex- 
treme measures  he  took  with  them  as  individuals 
and  as  tribes  were  always  fully  justified  by  the  cir- 
cumstances. To  have  been  more  lenient  might 
have  been  fatal  to  his  Company,  its  employees, 
and  the  early  white  settlers  in  the  Oregon  Country. 
They  were  of  the  few  cases  where  the  end  justifies 
the  means.  The  unusual  conditions  justified  the 
unusual  methods. 

The  Oregon  Provisional  Government  was  not  a 
government  in  the  true  meaning  of  the  word,  it 
was  a  local  organization,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
consenting.  It  had  no  true  sovereignty.  And  yet 
it  punished  offenders.  It  waged  the  Cayuse  In- 
dian war  of  1847-8,  caused  by  the  Whitman  mas- 
sacre. It  would  have  executed  the  murderers  if  it 
had  caught  them,  although  the  scenes  of  the  mas- 
sacre and  of  the  war  were  several  hundred  miles 
beyond  the  asserted  jurisdiction  of  the  Oregon  Pro- 
visional Government.  And  it  would  have  been 
justified  in  case  of  such  executions.  The  war  was 
a  necessity,  law  or  no  law.  Every  act  of  punitive 
or  vindicatory  justice  to  the  Indians  by  Dr. 
McLoughlin  is  greatly  to  his  credit.  These  acts 
caused  peace  in  the  Oregon  Country  and  were 
beneficial  to  the  Indians  as  well  as  to  the  whites, 
both  British  and  American,  and,  in  the  end,  prob- 
ably saved  numerous  massacres  and  hundreds  of 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  41 

lives.  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  a  very  just  and  far- 
seeing  man.  I  shall  presently  tell  how  Dr. 
McLoughlin  saved  the  immigrants  of  1843  from 
great  trouble  and  probable  massacre  by  the  In- 
dians. 

Early  French  Canadian  Settlers. 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  there  was 
found  among  his  private  papers  a  document  in  his 
own  handwriting.  This  was  probably  written 
shortly  prior  to  his  death.  It  gives  many  interest- 
ing facts,  some  of  which  I  shall  presently  set  forth. 
This  document  was  given  to  Col.  J.  W.  Nesmith 
by  a  descendant  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  It  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  by  Col. 
Nesmith  in  1880.  It  was  printed  at  length  in  the 
Transactions  of  that  Association  for  that  year, 
pages  46-55.  I  shall  hereinafter  refer  to  this  docu- 
ment as  "the  McLoughlin  Document."  In  the 
McLoughlin  Document  he  says:  "In  1825,  from 
what  I  had  seen  of  the  country,  I  formed  the  con- 
clusion, from  the  mildness  and  salubrity  of  the  cli- 
mate, that  this  was  the  finest  portion  of  North 
America  that  I  had  seen  for  the  residence  of  civil- 
ized man."  The  farm  at  Fort  Vancouver  showed 
that  the  wheat  was  of  exceptionally  fine  quality. 
Dr.  McLoughlin  knew  that  where  wheat  grew 
well  and  there  was  a  large  enough  area,  that  it 
would  become  a  civilized  country,  especially 
where  there  was  easy  access  to  the  ocean.  Thus 
early  he  saw  that  what  is  now  called  Western  Ore- 
gon was  bound  to  be  a  populous  country.  It  was 
merely  a  question  of  time.    It  was  evidently  with 


42  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

this  view  that  he  located  his  land  claim  at  Oregon 
City  in  1829.  If  settlers  came  he  could  endeavor 
to  have  them  locate  in  the  Willamette  Valley,  and 
thus  preserve,  to  a  great  extent,  the  fur  animals 
in  other  parts  of  the  Oregon  Country,  and  especial- 
ly north  of  the  Columbia  River. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  bound,  under 
heavy  penalties,  not  to  discharge  any  of  its  serv- 
ants in  the  Indian  country,  and  was  bound  to  re- 
turn them  to  the  places  where  they  were  originally 
hired.  As  early  as  1828  several  French  Canadian 
servants,  or  employees,  whose  times  of  service  were 
about  ended,  did  not  desire  to  return  to  Canada, 
but  to  settle  in  Oregon.  They  disliked  to  settle  in 
the  Willamette  Valley,  notwithstanding  its  fertil- 
ity and  advantages,  because  they  thought  that  ulti- 
mately it  would  be  American  territory,  but  Dr. 
McLoughlin  told  them  that  he  knew  "that  the 
American  Government  and  people  knew  only  two 
classes  of  persons,  rogues  and  honest  men.  That 
they  punished  the  first  and  protected  the  last,  and 
it  depended  only  upon  themselves  to  what  class 
they  would  belong."  Dr.  McLoughlin  later  found 
out,  to  his  own  sorrow  and  loss,  that  he  was  in  error 
in  this  statement.  These  French  Canadians  fol- 
lowed his  advice.  To  allow  these  French  Cana- 
dians to  become  settlers,  he  kept  them  nominally 
on  the  books  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  as  its 
servants.  He  made  it  a  rule  to  allow  none  of  these 
servants  to  become  settlers  unless  he  possessed  fifty 
pounds  sterling  to  start  with.  He  loaned  each  of 
them  seed  and  wheat  to  plant,  to  be  returned  from 
the  produce  of  his  farm,  and  sold  him  implements 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  43 

and  supplies  at  fifty  per  cent,  advance  on  prime 
London  cost.  The  regular  selling  price  at  Fort 
Vancouver  v^as  eighty  per  cent,  advance  on  prime 
London  cost.  Dr.  McLoughlin  also  loaned  each 
of  these  settlers  two  cows,  the  increase  to  belong  to 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  it  then  had  only 
a  small  herd,  and  he  wished  to  increase  the  herd. 
If  any  of  the  cows  died,  he  did  not  make  the  set- 
tler pay  for  the  animal.  If  he  had  sold  the  cattle 
the  Company  could  not  supply  other  settlers,  and 
the  price  would  be  prohibitive,  if  owned  by  set- 
tlers who  could  afford  to  buy,  as  some  settlers  of- 
fered him  as  high  as  two  hundred  dollars  for  a 
cow.  Therefore,  to  protect  the  poor  settlers  against 
the  rich,  and  to  make  a  herd  of  cattle  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  country,  he  refused  to  sell  to 
any  one. 

In  1825  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  at  Fort  Van- 
couver only  twenty-seven  head  of  cattle,  large  and 
small.  He  determined  that  no  cattle  should  be 
killed,  except  one  bull-calf  every  year  for  rennet 
to  make  cheese,  until  he  had  an  ample  stock  to 
meet  all  demands  of  his  Company,  and  to  assist 
settlers,  a  resolution  to  which  he  strictly  adhered. 
The  first  animal  killed  for  beef  was  in  1838.  Until 
that  time  the  Company's  officers  and  employees 
had  lived  on  fresh  and  salt  venison  and  salmon  and 
wild  fowl. 

In  August  1839,  the  expedition  of  Sir  Edward 
Belcher  was  at  Fort  Vancouver.  Dr.  McLough- 
lin was  not  then  at  Fort  Vancouver.  He  probably 
had  not  returned  from  his  trip  to  England  in 
^^3^-9'    James  Douglas  was  in  charge.    Although 


44  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

the  latter  supplied  Sir  Edward  Belcher  and  his 
officers  with  fresh  beef,  Douglas  declined  to  fur- 
nish a  supply  of  fresh  beef  for  the  crew,  because 
he  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  kill  so  many  cattle. 
Sir  Edward  Belcher  complained  of  this  to  the 
British  government.^  Dr.  McLoughlin  gave  the 
American  settlers,  prior  to  1842,  the  same  terms 
as  he  gave  to  the  French  Canadian  settlers.  But 
some  of  these  early  American  settlers  were  much 
incensed  at  the  refusal  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  to  sell 
the  cattle,  although  they  accepted  the  loan  of  the 
cows.  It  has  been  asserted  that  Dr.  McLoughlin 
intended  to  maintain  a  monopoly  in  cattle.  But 
if  that  was  his  intention,  as  he  refused  to  sell,  where 
was  to  be  the  profit?  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
was  a  fur-trading  Company.  It  was  not  a  cattle- 
dealing  Company.  If  Dr.  McLoughlin  intended 
to  create  a  monopoly,  he  himself  assisted  to  break 
it.  That  such  was  not  his  intention  is  shown  by  his 
helping  the  settlers  to  procure  cattle  from  Cali- 
fornia in  1836. 

In  1836  a  company  was  formed  to  go  to  Cali- 
fornia to  buy  cattle  and  drive  them  to  Oregon 
overland.  About  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  was 
raised  for  this  purpose,  of  which  amount  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
subscribed  about  half.  The  number  of  cattle 
which  were  thus  brought  to  Oregon  was  six  hun- 
dred and  thirty,  at  a  cost  of  about  eight  dollars  a 
head.  In  the  McLoughlin  Document  he  says:  "In 
the  Willamette  the  settlers  kept  the  tame  and 
broken-in  oxen  they  had,  belonging  to  the  Hud- 

•  Belcher's  Narrative  of  a  Voyage  Round  the  World,  vol.  i,  p.  296. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  45 

son's  Bay  Company,  and  gave  their  California 
wild  cattle  in  the  place,  so  that  they  found  them- 
selves stocked  w^ith  tame  cattle  which  cost  them 
only  eight  dollars  a  head,  and  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  to  favor  the  settlers,  took  calves  in  place 
of  grown  up  cattle,  because  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  wanted  them  for  beef.  These  calves 
would  grow  up  before  they  were  required." 

Early  American  Traders  and  Travellers. 

In  1832  Nathaniel  J.  iWyeth  of  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  came  overland  with  a  small  party, 
expecting  to  meet  in  the  Columbia  River,  a  vessel 
with  supplies,  to  compete  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  The  vessel  was  wrecked  in  the  South 
Pacific  Ocean.  She  and  the  cargo  were  a  total  loss. 
This  party  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  in  a  desti- 
tute condition.  Although  Dr.  McLoughlin  knew 
they  came  as  competing  traders,  he  welcomed  them 
cordially,  supplied  their  necessities  on  their  credit, 
and  gave  Wyeth  a  seat  at  his  own  table.  In 
Wyeth's  Journal  of  this  expedition  he  says,  under 
date  of  October  29,  1832:  "Arrived  at  the  fort  of 
Vancouver.  .  .  .  Here  I  was  received  with  the 
utmost  kindness  and  hospitality  by  Dr.  McLough- 
lin, the  acting  Governor  of  the  place.  . 
Our  people  were  supplied  with  food  and  shelter. 
.  .  .  I  find  Dr.  McLoughlin  a  fine  old  gen- 
tleman, truly  philanthropic  in  his  ideas.  . 
The  gentlemen  of  this  Company  do  much  credit 
to  their  country  by  their  education,  deportment, 
and  talents.  .  .  .  The  Company  seem  disposed 
to  render  me  all  the  assistance  they  can."   Wyeth 


46  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

was  most  hospitably  entertained  by  Dr.  McLough- 
lin until  February  3,  1833,  when  Wyeth  left  Van- 
couver for  his  home  overland.  He  was  accom- 
panied by  three  of  his  men,  the  others  staying  at 
Fort  Vancouver.  In  his  Journal  under  date  Feb- 
ruary 3,  1833,  he  says:  "I  parted  with  feelings  of 
sorrow  from  the  gentlemen  of  Fort  Vancouver. 
Their  unremitting  kindness  to  me  while  there 
much  endeared  them  to  me,  more  so  than  would 
seem  possible  during  so  short  a  time.  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  the  Governor  of  the  place,  is  a  man 
distinguished  as  much  for  his  kindness  and  hu- 
manity as  his  good  sense  and  information;  and  to 
whom  I  am  so  much  indebted  as  that  he  will  never 
be  forgotten  by  me."  Dr.  McLoughlin  assisted 
the  men  of  Wyeth's  expedition  who  stayed,  to  join 
the  Willamette  settlement.  He  furnished  them 
seed  and  supplies  and  agreed  that  they  would  be 
paid  the  same  price  for  their  wheat  as  was  paid  to 
the  French  Canadian  settlers,  i.e.^  three  shillings, 
sterling,  per  bushel,  and  that  they  could  purchase 
their  supplies  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
at  fifty  per  cent,  advance  on  prime  London  cost. 
This  is  said  to  have  been  equivalent  to  paying  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  bushel  for  wheat, 
with  supplies  at  customary  prices. 

In  1834  Wyeth  again  came  overland  to  the 
Columbia  River  with  a  large  party.  On  the  way 
he  established  Fort  Hall  (now  in  Idaho)  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  he 
had  a  perfect  right  to  do.  He  and  his  party  arrived 
at  Fort  Vancouver  September  14,  1834,  and  were 
hospitably  received  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  the 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  47 

other  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
In  Wyeth's  Journal  of  his  second  expedition  he 
says,  under  date  of  September  14,  1834  :  "Arrived 
at  Vancouver,  where  I  found  Dr.  McLougblin  in 
charge,  who  received  us  in  his  usual  manner.  He 
has  here  power,  and  uses  it  as  a  man  should,  to 
make  those  about  him,  and  those  who  come  in 
contact  with  him,  comfortable  and  happy."  The 
brig  May  Dacre,  with  Wyeth's  supplies,  was  then 
in  the  Columbia  River.  Immediately  on  his  ar- 
rival, Wyeth  started  in  active  competition  with 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  He  established  a 
post,  which  he  named  Fort  William,  on  Wappatoo 
Island  (now  Sauvie's  Island).  He  forwarded 
supplies  and  men  to  Fort  Hall.  It  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a  commercial  war  between  the  two  com- 
panies, but  it  was  a  warfare  on  honorable  lines. 
In  the  end  Wyeth  was  beaten  by  Dr.  McLougblin, 
and  sold  out  his  entire  establishment  to  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  While  Dr.  McLougblin  was 
personally  courteous  to  Wyeth  and  his  employees, 
he  did  not  and  would  not  be  false  or  untrue  to  the 
business  interests  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
For  Dr.  McLougblin  to  have  acted  otherwise  than 
he  did,  would  have  shown  him  to  be  unfit  to  hold 
his  position  as  Chief  Factor.  Wyeth  was  too  big, 
and  too  capable  a  man  not  to  understand  this.  In 
his  Journal,  under  date  of  September  31,  1834,  (he 
evidently  forgot  that  September  has  but  thirty 
days)  he  says:  "From  this  time  until  the  13th  Oct. 
making  preparations  for  a  campaign  into  the  Snake 
country  and  arrived  on  the  13th  at  Vancouver  and 
was  received  with  great  attention  by  all  there." 


48  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

And  under  date  of  February  12,  1835,  he  says: 
"In  the  morning  made  to  Vancouver  and  found 
there  a  polite  reception."  ^°  Wyeth  was  a  man  of 
great  ability,  enterprise,  and  courage.  His  expedi- 
tions deserved  better  fates.  He  was  a  high-minded 
gentleman.  Although  his  two  expeditions  were 
failures,  he  showed  his  countrymen  the  way  to 
Oregon,  which  many  shortly  followed. 

In  the  McLoughlin  Document  he  says:  "In 
justice  to  Mr.  Wyeth  I  have  great  pleasure  to  be 
able  to  state  that  as  a  rival  in  trade,  I  found  him 
open,  manly,  frank,  and  fair.  And,  in  short,  in 
all  his  contracts,  a  perfect  gentleman  and  an  hon- 
est man,  doing  all  he  could  to  support  morality 
and  encouraging  industry  in  the  settlement."  It 
is  pleasing  to  know  that  after  all  his  hardships  and 
misfortunes  Wyeth  established  a  business  for  the 
exportation  of  ice  from  Boston  to  Calcutta,  which 
was  a  great  financial  success. 

Rev.  H.  K.  Hines,  D.D.,  was  a  Methodist  min- 
ister who  came  to  Oregon  in  1853.  He  was  a 
brother  of  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines,  the  Methodist 
missionary,  who  came  to  Oregon  in  1840,  on  the 
ship  Lausanne.  December  10,  1897,  at  Pendleton, 
Oregon,  Rev.  Dr.  Hines  delivered  one  of  the  finest 
tributes  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  that  I  know  of.  He 
was  fully  capable  to  do  it,  for  he  was  a  profound 
and  scholarly  student  of  Oregon  history,  and  per- 
sonally knew  Dr.  McLoughlin.  His  address 
should  be  read  by  everyone.  In  his  address  Rev. 
Dr.  Hines  said,  speaking  in  regard  to  the  failure 

"  As  to  the  high  regard  which  Wyeth  retained  through  his  life 
for  Dr.  McLoughlin,  see  Document  O. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  49 


of  the  enterprises  of  Wyeth,  Bonneville,  and  other 
fur  traders  in  opposition  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany:    **My  own  conclusion,  after  a  lengthy  and 
laborious   investigation,   the   result  I  have  given 
here  in  bare  outlines,  is  that  Dr.   McLoughlin 
acted  the  part  only  of  an  honorable,  high-minded, 
and  loyal  man  in  his  relation  with  the  American 
traders  who  ventured  to  dispute  with  him  the  com- 
mercial dominion  of  Oregon  up  to  1835  or  1837." 
When  Wyeth  left  Oregon  in  1835,  he  left  on  the 
Columbia  River  a  number  of  men.     These,  too, 
were  assisted  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  to  join  the  Wil- 
lamette River  settlements.     They  were  given  the 
same  terms  as  to  prices  of  wheat  and  on  supplies 
as  he  had  given  to  the  French  Canadian,  and  to  the 
other  American  settlers.     In  assisting  these  men 
whom  Wyeth  left  on    his    two  expeditions.   Dr. 
McLoughlin  was  actuated  by  two  motives.    The 
first  was  humanitarian;  the  second  was  the  desir- 
ability, if  not  necessity,  of  not  having  men,  little 
accustomed  to  think  or  to  plan   for  themselves, 
roaming  the  country,  and  possibly,  some  of  them, 
becoming  vagabonds.   It  was  liable  to  be  danger- 
ous for  white  men  to  join  Indian  tribes  and  become 
leaders.     With  great  wisdom  and  humanity  he 
made  them  settlers,  which  gave  them  every  induce- 
ment to  be  industrious  and  to  be  law  abiding. 

John  K.  Townsend,  the  naturalist,  accompanied 
by  Nuttall,  the  botanist,  crossed  the  plains  in  1834 
with  Captain  Wyeth.  In  1839  Townsend  pub- 
lished a  book  entitled,  "Narrative  of  a  Journey 
across  the  Rocky  Mountains,"  etc.  On  page  169 
he  says :     "On  the  beach  in  front  of  the  fort,  we 


50  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

were  met  by  Mr.  Lee,  the  missionary,  and  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin,  the  Chief  Factor,  and  Gov- 
ernor of  the  Hudson's  Bay  posts  in  this  vicinity. 
The  Dr.  is  a  large,  dignified  and  very  noble  look- 
ing man,  with  a  fine  expressive  countenance,  and 
remarkably  bland  and  pleasing  manners.  The 
Missionary  introduced  Mr.  N.  [Nuttall]  and  my- 
self in  due  form,  and  we  were  greeted  and  received 
with  a  frank  and  unassuming  politeness  which  was 
most  peculiarly  grateful  to  our  feelings.  He  re- 
quested us  to  consider  his  house  our  home,  pro- 
vided a  separate  room  for  our  use,  a  servant  to 
wait  upon  us,  and  furnished  us  with  every  conven- 
ience which  we  could  possibly  wish  for.  I  shall 
never  cease  to  feel  grateful  to  him  for  his  disin- 
terested kindness  to  the  poor,  houseless,  and  travel- 
worn  strangers."  And  on  page  263  he  said:  "I 
took  leave  of  Doctor  McLoughlin  with  feelings 
akin  to  those  with  which  I  should  bid  adieu  to  an 
affectionate  parent;  and  to  his  fervent,  'God  bless 
you,  sir,  and  may  you  have  a  happy  meeting  with 
your  friends,'  I  could  only  reply  by  a  look  of  the 
sincerest  gratitude.  Words  are  inadequate  to  ex- 
press my  deep  sense  of  the  obligations  which  I 
feel  under  to  this  truly  generous  and  excellent  man, 
and  I  fear  I  can  only  repay  them  by  the  sincerity 
with  which  I  shall  always  cherish  the  recollection 
of  his  kindness,  and  the  ardent  prayers  I  shall 
breathe  for  his  prosperity  and  happiness." 
/  The  only  persons  who  were  not  cordially  re- 
/^  ceived  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  were  Ewing  Young 
'  and  Hall  J.  Kelley,  who  came  to  Fort  Vancouver 
in  October,   1834,  from  California.     Gov.  Figu- 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  51 

eroa,  the  Governor  of  California,  had  written  Dr. 
McLoughlin  that  Young  and  Kelley  had  stolen 
horses  from  settlers  in  California.  Dr.  McLough- 
lin told  them  of  the  charges,  and  that  he  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  them  until  the  informa- 
tion was  shown  to  be  false.  This  was  not  done 
until  long  afterwards,  when  it  was  shown  that 
neither  Young  nor  Kelley  was  guilty,  but  that 
some  of  their  party,  with  which  they  started  to 
Oregon,  were  guilty,  and  were  disreputable  char- 
acters, which  Young  and  Kelley  knew.  The  stand 
taken  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  the  only  proper 
one.  He  had  official  information  from  California. 
Fort  Vancouver  was  not  an  asylum  for  horse 
thieves.  Nevertheless,  as  Kelley  was  sick,  Dr. 
McLoughlin  provided  Kelley  with  a  house,  such 
as  was  occupied  by  the  servants  of  the  Company, 
outside  the  fort,  furnished  him  with  an  attendant, 
and  supplied  him  with  medical  aid  and  all  neces- 
sary comforts  until  March,  1835,  when  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin gave  Kelley  free  passage  to  the  Hawai- 
ian Islands  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  ves- 
sel, the  Dryad,  and  also  presented  Kelley  with  a 
draft  for  seven  pounds  sterling,  payable  at  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  On  his  return  home,  Kelley, 
instead  of  being  grateful,  most  vigorously  attacked 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  for  its  alleged  abuses 
of  American  citizens,  and  abused  Dr.  McLough- 
lin and  falsely  stated  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had 
been  so  alarmed  with  the  dread  that  Kelley  would 
destroy  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  trade  that 
Dr.  McLoughlin  had  kept  a  constant  watch  over 
Kelley. 


52  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Kelley  was  a  Boston  school  teacher  who  became 
an  Oregon  enthusiast.  From  the  year  1815,  when 
he  was  twenty-six  years  of  age,  for  many  years,  he 
wrote  and  published  pamphlets  and  also  a  few 
books  on  Oregon  and  its  advantages  as  a  country  to 
live  in.  He  originated  a  scheme  to  send  a  colony 
to  Oregon;  to  build  a  city  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Willamette  River,  at  its  junction  with  the  Colum- 
bia River;  and  to  build  another  city  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Columbia  River,  nearly  opposite 
Tongue  Point.  His  efforts  resulted  in  immediate 
failures.  He  died  a  disappointed  man.  Young 
was  a  type  of  a  man  who  was  often  successful  in 
the  Far  West.  He  was  forceful  and  self-reliant, 
but  often  reckless,  and  sometimes  careless  of  ap- 
pearances. He  was  so  accustomed  to  meet  emer- 
gencies successfully  that  he  did  not  always  con- 
sider what  others  might  think  of  him  and  of  the 
methods  he  sometimes  felt  compelled  to  adopt. 
He  had  been  robbed  in  California  of  a  large 
amount  of  furs  and  had  not  been  fairly  treated  by 
the  representatives  of  the  Mexican  Government 
in  California.  While  Young  was  an  adventurer, 
he  was  a  man  of  ability  and  became  a  leading 
resident  of  early  Oregon.  The  relations  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  and  Ewing  Young  finally  became 
quite  amicable,  for  Dr.  McLoughlin  learned  of 
and  respected  Young's  good  and  manly  qualities. 

Presbyterian  Missionaries. 

For  convenience  I  shall  first  mention  the  Pres- 
byterian missionaries,  although  they  came  two 
years  later  than  the  first  Methodist  missionaries. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  ^2 


Rev.  Samuel  Parker  was  the  first  Presbyterian  min- 
ister to  arrive  in  Oregon.    He  came  in  1835.    He 
started  to  Oregon  with  Doctor  Marcus  Whitman, 
but  Whitman  returned  East  from  Green  River  to 
obtain  more  associates  for  the  Mission.  These  came 
out  with  Dr.  Whitman  in  1836.    Parker  returned 
home  by  sea,  reaching  his  home  in  1837.     Parker 
published  a  book  called,  "Journal  of  an  Exploring 
Tour  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains."     The  first 
edition  was  published  in  Ithaca,  New  York,  in 
1838.    On  page  138  of  his  book  he  says:  "At  two 
in  the  afternoon,  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver,  and 
never  did  I  feel  more  joyful  to  set  my  feet  on 
shore,  where  I  expected  to  find  a  hospitable  people 
and  the  comforts  of  life.     Doct.  J.  McLoughlin, 
a  chief  factor  and  superintendent  of  this  fort  and 
of  the  business  of  the  Company  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,   received   me  with  many  expressions 
of  kindness,  and  invited  me  to  make  his  residence 
my  home  for  the  Winter,  and  as  long  as  it  would 
suit  my  convenience.    Never  could  such  an  invi- 
tation be  more  thankfully  received."    On  page  158 
he  says:  "Here,  [Fort  Vancouver]  by  the  kind  in- 
vitation of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and  welcomed  by  the 
other  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  I 
took  up  my  residence  for  the  winter."     And  on 
page  263  he  says:   "Monday,  nth  April  [1836]. 
Having  made  arrangements  to  leave  this  place  on 
the  14th,  I  called  upon  the  chief  clerk  for  my  bill. 
He  said  the  Company  had  made  no  bill  against 
me,  but  felt  a  pleasure  in  gratuitously  conferring 
all  they  have  done  for  the  benefit  of  the  object  in 
which  I  am  engaged.    In  justice  to  my  own  feel- 


54  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ings,  and  in  gratitude  to  the  Honorable  Company, 
I  would  bear  testimony  to  their  consistent  polite- 
ness and  generosity;  and  while  I  do  this,  I  would 
express  my  anxiety  for  their  salvation,  and  that 
they  may  be  rewarded  in  spiritual  blessings.  In 
addition  to  the  civilities  I  had  received  as  a  guest, 
I  had  drawn  upon  their  store  for  clothing,  for 
goods  to  pay  my  Indians,  whom  I  had  employed 
to  convey  me  in  canoes,  in  my  various  journeyings, 
hundreds  of  miles;  to  pay  my  guides  and  inter- 
preters; and  have  drawn  upon  their  provision  store 
for  the  support  of  these  men  while  in  my  employ." 
In  1836  Dr.  Marcus  Whitman  came  to  Oregon. 
With  him  came  his  wife,  Rev.  Henry  H.  Spalding 
and  wife,  and  W.  H.  Gray,  a  layman.  They  arrived 
at  Fort  Vancouver  September  i,  1836.  Here  they 
were  most  hospitably  entertained  by  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin and  the  other  gentlemen  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  all  necessary  and  convenient 
assistance  to  these  missionaries  was  freely  given. 
When  these  missionaries  arrived  at  Vancouver, 
they  had  hardly  more  than  the  clothes  they  had 
on.  They  concluded  to  locate  one  mission  near 
Waiilatpu,  near  the  present  city  of  Walla  Walla, 
Washington;  and  another  at  Lapwai,  near  the  pres- 
ent city  of  Lewiston,  Idaho.  Mrs.  Whitman  and 
Mrs.  Spalding  remained  at  Fort  Vancouver  for 
several  months,  while  their  husbands  and  Gray 
were  erecting  the  necessary  houses  at  the  Missions. 

Methodist  Missions  and  Missionaries. 

With  Wyeth's  second  expedition,  in  1834,  came 
the  first  Methodist  missionaries:  Rev.  Jason  Lee, 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  SS 

Rev.  Daniel  Lee,  his  nephew,  and  the  following 
laymen:  Cyrus  Shepard,  a  teacher;  P.  L.  Ed- 
wards, a  teacher;  and  a  man  named  Walker.  They 
arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  September  17,  1834. 
They  were  also  hospitably  received  by  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin,  and  treated  with  every  consideration 
and  kindness.  On  Dr.  McLoughlin's  invitation 
Jason  Lee  preached  at  Fort  Vancouver.  Boats  and 
men  were  furnished  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  to  the 
missionaries  to  explore  the  country  and  select  a 
proper  place  for  the  establishment  of  their  Mis- 
sion. In  the  McLoughlin  Document,  he  says:  "In 
1834,  Messrs.  Jason  and  Daniel  Lee,  and  Messrs. 
Walker  and  P.  L.  Edwards  came  with  Mr.  Wyeth 
to  establish  a  Mission  in  the  Flat-head  country. 
I  observed  to  them  that  it  was  too  dangerous  for 
them  to  establish  a  Mission  [there]  ;  that  to  do 
good  to  the  Indians,  they  must  establish  themselves 
where  they  could  collect  them  around  them ;  teach 
them  first  to  cultivate  the  ground  and  live  more 
comfortably  than  they  do  by  hunting,  and  as  they 
do  this,  teach  them  religion;  that  the  Willamette 
afforded  them  a  fine  field,  and  that  they  ought  to 
go  there,  and  they  would  get  the  same  assistance 
as  the  settlers.  They  followed  my  advice  and  went 
to  the  Willamette." 

Rev.  Dr.  H.  K.  Hines  published  a  book  in  1899 
entitled,  "Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest."  While,  as  is  to  be  expected,  Dr. 
Hines'  book  is  biased  in  favor  of  the  Methodist 
missionaries,  and  Jason  Lee  is  his  hero,  neverthe- 
less, he  has  endeavored  to  be  fair  and  just  to  all. 
In  this  "Missionary  History,"  page  92,  Dr.  Hines 


S^  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

says:  "It  was  no  accident,  nor,  yet,  was  it  any  in- 
fluence that  Dr.  McLoughlin  or  any  other  man  or 
men  had  over  him  [Jason  Lee]  that  determined 
his  choice  [of  a  site  for  the  Mission].  It  was  his 
own  clear  and  comprehensive  statesmanship.  Mr. 
Lee  was  not  a  man  of  hasty  impulse.  .  .  .  This 
nature  did  not  play  him  false  in  the  selection  of  the 
site  of  his  Mission."  And  on  pages  452,  453,  he 
says:  "Some  writers  have  believed,  or  affected  to 
believe,  that  the  advice  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  both  to 
Mr.  Lee  in  1834,  and  to  the  missionaries  of  the 
American  Board  in  1836,  was  for  the  purpose  of 
pushing  them  to  one  side,  and  putting  them  out 
of  the  way  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  so  that 
they  could  not  interfere  with  its  purposes,  nor  put 
any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  ultimate  British 
occupancy  of  Oregon.  Such  writers  give  little 
credit  to  the  astuteness  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  or  to 
the  intelligence  and  independence  of  the  mission- 
aries of  the  American  Board.  Had  such  been  the 
purpose  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  or  had  he  been  a 
man  capable  of  devising  a  course  of  action  so  ad- 
verse to  the  purposes  for  which  his  guests  were  in 
the  country,  he  certainly  would  not  have  advised 
them  to  establish  their  work  in  the  very  centers  of 
the  great  region  open  to  their  choice.  This  he  did, 
as  we  believe,  honestly  and  honorably." 

Jason  Lee  selected,  as  the  original  site  of  the 
Methodist  Mission,  a  place  on  French  Prairie, 
about  ten  miles  north  of  the  present  city  of  Salem. 
When  he  and  his  party  were  ready  to  leave  for 
their  new  home.  Dr.  McLoughlin  placed  at  their 
disposal  a  boat  and  crew  to  transport  the  mission 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  57 

goods  from  the  May  Dacre,  Wyeth's  vessel,  on 
which  their  goods  had  come,  to  the  new  Mission. 
He  loaned  them  seven  oxen,  one  bull,  and  seven 
cows  with  their  calves.  The  moving  of  these  goods 
and  cattle  to  the  Mission  required  several  days. 
He  also  provided  and  manned  a  boat  to  convey  the 
missionaries,  personally.  In  his  diary,  Jason  Lee 
says:  "After  dinner  embarked  in  one  of  the  Com- 
pany's boats,  kindly  manned  for  us  by  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin, who  has  treated  us  with  the  utmost  at- 
tention, politeness  and  liberality."  ^^ 

March  i,  1836,  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  the  other 
officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  all  British 
subjects,  sent  to  Jason  Lee,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Methodist  Mission,  a  voluntary  gift  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  dollars,  accompanied  by  the  fol- 
lowing letter: 

"Fort  Vancouver,  ist  March,  1836. 
"The  Rev.  Jason  Lee, 

"Dear  Sir: 
"I  do  myself  the  pleasure  to  hand  you  the  en- 
closed subscription,  which  the  gentlemen  who 
have  signed  it  request  you  will  do  them  the  favor 
to  accept  for  the  use  of  the  Mission;  and  they 
pray  our  Heavenly  Father,  without  whose  assist- 
ance we  can  do  nothing,  that  of  his  infinite  mercy 
he  will  vouchsafe  to  bless  and  prosper  your 
pious  endeavors,  and  believe  me  to  be,  with  esteem 
and  regard,  your  sincere  well-wisher  and  humble 
servant. 

"John  McLoughlin."  ^^ 

^*  See  Document  D. 

^*  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines,  History  of  Oregon,  p.  i6. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


From  its  beginning,  and  for  several  years  after, 
the  successful  maintenance  of  the  Methodist  Mis- 
sion in  Oregon  was  due  to  the  friendly  attitude  and 
assistance  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  of  the  other  of- 
ficers of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  Oregon. 
Without  these  the  Mission  must  have  ceased  to 
exist.  This  applies  also  to  the  successful  mainte- 
nance of  all  other  missions  in  the  Oregon  Country 
in  the  same  period  of  time.^^ 

In  May,  1837,  an  addition  to  the  Methodist  Mis- 
sion arrived  at  Vancouver.  It  consisted  of  eight 
adults  and  three  children.  Of  these  three  were 
men,  one  of  whom  was  Dr.  Elijah  White,  the  Mis- 
sion physician;  five  were  women,  one  of  whom  was 
Anna  Maria  Pittman,  whom  Jason  Lee  soon  mar- 
ried. In  September,  1837,  the  ship  Sumatra  ar- 
rived at  Fort  Vancouver  loaded  with  goods  for 
the  Methodist  Mission.  The  Sumatra  also  brought 
four  more  missionaries,  two  men,  two  women,  and 
three  children.  Rev.  David  Leslie  and  wife  were 
two  of  these  missionaries.  All  these  missionaries 
were  entertained  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and  pro- 
vided with  comfortable  quarters  at  Fort  Van- 
couver. 

In  March,  1838,  Rev.  Jason  Lee  left  for  the 
Eastern  States,  overland,  on  business  for  the  Mis- 
sion. His  wife  died  June  26,  1838,  three  weeks 
after  the  birth  and  death  of  their  son.  Immedi- 
ately on  her  death  Dr.  McLoughlin  sent  an  ex- 
press to  overtake  and  tell  Jason  Lee  of  these  sad 
events.  The  express  reached  Jason  Lee  about  Sep- 
tember I,  1838,  at  Pawnee  Mission,  near  West- 
port,  Missouri. ^^    From  this  act  alone  could  any- 

^*  Dr.  H.  K.  Hines,  Missionary  History,  p.  90. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  59 

one  doubt  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  a  sympa- 
thetic, kind,  thoughtful,  and  considerate  man?  Or 
think  that  Jason  Lee  would  ever  forget?  Later, 
in  1838  Dr.  McLoughlin  made  a  trip  to  London, 
returning  to  Fort  Vancouver  in  1839. 

While  Jason  Lee  was  on  this  trip  to  the  Eastern 
States,  the  Missionary  Board  was  induced  to  raise 
$42,000  to  provide  for  sending  thirty-six  adults, 
and  sixteen  children,  and  a  cargo  of  goods  and  sup- 
plies, on  the  ship  Lausanne,  to  Oregon  for  the 
Methodist  Mission.  Among  these  new  mission- 
aries were  Rev.  Alvan  F.  Waller,  Rev.  Gustavus 
Hines,  and  George  Abernethy,  a  lay  member,  who 
was  to  be  steward  of  the  Mission  and  to  have 
charge  of  all  its  secular  affairs.  This  party  of  mis- 
sionaries, who  came  on  the  Lausanne,  are  often  re- 
ferred to  as  "The  great  re-inforcement."  The 
Lausanne,  with  its  precious  and  valuable  cargoes, 
arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  June  i,  1840.  As  soon 
as  Dr.  McLoughlin  knew  of  her  arrival  in  the 
Columbia  River,  he  sent  fresh  bread,  butter,  milk, 
and  vegetables  for  the  passengers  and  crew.  At 
Fort  Vancouver  he  supplied  rooms  and  provisions 
for  the  whole  missionary  party,  about  fifty-three 
people.  This  party  remained  as  his  guests,  accept- 
ing his  hospitality,  for  about  two  weeks.^°  Shortly 
after  some  of  this  missionary  party  were  endeavor- 
ing to  take  for  themselves  Dr.  McLoughlin's  land 
claim  at  Oregon  City.  The  Lausanne  was  the  last 
missionary  vessel  to  come  to  Oregon. 

Why  this  large  addition  to  the  Oregon  Mission, 


^*  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines,  History  of  the  Oregon  Missions,  pp.  31,  32; 
Dr.  H.  K.  Hines,  Missionary  History,  p.  156. 

^*  Lee  and  Frost's  Ten  Years  in  Oregon,  pp.  225,  226. 


6o  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

and  these  quantities  of  supplies,  were  sent,  and  this 
great  expense  incurred,  has  never  been  satisfac- 
torily explained.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  result 
of  unusual,  but  ill-directed,  religious  fervor  and 
zeal.  The  Methodist  Oregon  Mission  was  then,  so 
far  as  converting  the  Indians,  a  failure.  It  was 
not  the  fault  of  the  early  missionaries.  Until  1840 
they  labored  hard  and  zealously.  The  Indians 
would  not  be  converted,  or,  if  converted,  stay  con- 
verted. Their  numbers  had  been  greatly  reduced 
by  the  epidemics  of  1829-32,  and  the  numbers 
were  still  being  rapidly  reduced.  And  why  the 
necessity  of  such  secular  business  as  a  part  of  a 
mission  to  convert  Indians  to  Christianity?  ^^  The 
failure  to  convert  the  Indians  was  because  they 
were  Indians.  Their  language  was  simple  and  re- 
lated almost  wholly  to  material  things.  They  had 
no  ethical,  no  spiritual  words.  They  had  no  need 
for  such.  They  had  no  religion  of  their  own, 
worthy  of  the  name,  to  be  substituted  for  a  better 
or  a  higher  one.  They  had  no  religious  instincts, 
no  religious  tendencies,  no  religious  traditions. 
The  male  Indians  would  not  perform  manual 
labor  -  that  was  for  women  and  slaves.  The  reli- 
gion of  Christ  and  the  religion  of  Work  go  hand 
in  hand. 

Rev.  Dr.  H.  K.  Hines,  in  his  Missionary  His- 
tory^ after  setting  forth  certain  traits  of  the  In- 
dians and  the  failures  of  the  Methodist  mission- 
aries to  convert  them,  says  (p.  402)  :  "So  on  the 
Northwest  Coast.  The  course  and  growth  of  a 
history  whose  beginnings  cannot  be  discovered  had 

"  See  Documents  E  and  F. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  6i 

ended  only  in  the  production  of  the  degraded  tribes 
among  whom  the  most  consecrated  and  ablest  mis- 
sionary apostleship  the  Church  of  Christ  had  sent 
out  for  centuries  made  almost  superhuman  efforts 
to  plant  the  seed  of  the  'eternal  life.'  As  a  people 
they  gave  no  fruitful  response."  And,  on  page 
476,  he  says:  ^'Indeed,  after  Dr.  Whitman  reha- 
bilitated his  mission  in  the  autumn  of  1843,  the 
work  of  that  station  lost  much  of  its  character  as 
an  Indian  mission.  It  became  rather  a  resting 
place  and  trading  post,  where  the  successive  im- 
migrations of  i844-'45-'46  and  '47  halted  for  a 
little  recuperation  after  their  long  and  weary  jour- 
ney, before  they  passed  forward  to  the  Willamette. 
This  was  inevitable."  And  on  page  478  Dr.  Hines 
says  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  "advised  Dr.  Whitman 
to  remove  from  among  the  Cayuses,  as  he  believed 
not  only  that  he  could  no  longer  be  useful  to  them, 
but  that  his  life  was  in  danger  if  he  remained 
among  them." 

J.  Quinn  Thornton  in  his  "History  of  the  Pro- 
visional Government  of  Oregon,"  ^'  says:  "In  the 
autumn  of  1840  there  were  in  Oregon  thirty-six 
American  male  settlers,  twenty-five  of  whom  had 
taken  native  women  for  their  wives.  There  were 
also  thirty-three  American  women,  thirty-two  chil- 
dren, thirteen  lay  members  of  the  Protestant  Mis- 
sions, thirteen  Methodist  ministers,  six  Congrega- 
tional ministers,  three  Jesuit  priests,  and  sixty 
Canadian-French,  tnaking  an  aggregate  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six  Americans,  and  sixty-three 
Canadian-French  [including  the  priests  in  the  lat- 

^^  Transactions  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1875,  p.  45. 


62     *  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ter  class]  having  no  connection  as  employees  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  [This  estimate  includes 
the  missionaries  who  arrived  on  the  Lausanne.] 
I  have  said  that  the  population  outside  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  increased  slowly.  How  much 
so,  will  be  seen  by  the  fact  that  up  to  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1842,  there  were  in  Oregon  no  more 
than  twenty-one  Protestant  ministers,  three  Jesuit 
priests,  fifteen  lay  members  of  Protestant  churches, 
thirty-four  white  women,  thirty-two  white  chil- 
dren, thirty-four  American  settlers,  twenty-five  of 
whom  had  native  wives.  The  total  American  pop- 
ulation will  thus  be  seen  to  have  been  no  more  than 
one  hundred  and  thirty-nine."  (This  was  prior  to 
the  arrival  of  the  immigration  of  1842.) 

In  his  Missionary  History  Rev.  Dr.  Hines  says 
(page  249)  that  in  1841  and  1842,  prior  to  the 
arrival  of  the  immigration  of  1842,  the  Oregon 
Methodist  Mission  "comprised  nearly  all  the 
American  citizens  of  the  country."  And  on  page 
239  he  says:  "Up  to  1840  it  [the  Methodist  Mis- 
sion] had  been  entirely  an  Indian  Mission.  After 
that  date  it  began  to  take  on  the  character  of  an 
American  colony,  though  it  did  not  lay  aside  its 
missionary  character  or  purpose."  He  also  says 
that  in  1840  there  were  only  nine  Methodist  min- 
isters in  the  Oregon  mission.  Some  of  the  lay 
members,  of  which  J.  L.  Parrish  was  one,  became 
ministers,  which  probably  accounts  for  the  dif- 
ference in  the  estimates  of  Thornton  and  of  Dr. 
Hines.  In  the  summer  of  1843  Rev.  Jason  Lee 
was  removed,  summarily,  as  Superintendent  of  the 
Oregon   Methodist  Mission    by    the   Missionary 


Dr.  John  McLou(;hlin 

Taken  from  a  miniature  of  Dr.  John  McLaughlin  painted  on  i-vory.  This 
miniature  ivas  probably  painted  in  iSjS  or  iSjg,  ivhen  he  was  in  London.  The 
original  miniature  belongs  to  the  ividozv  of  James  JV.  McL.  Hari-ey,  noic  Having  at 
Mirabel,  California.      Her  husband  ivas  a  grandson  of  Dr.  McLoughlin. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  63 

Board  in  New  York,  and  Rev.  George  Gary  was 
appointed  in  his  place,  with  plenary  powers  to 
close  the  Mission,  if  he  should  so  elect.  He  closed 
the  Mission  in  1844. 

When  the  Lausanne  arrived  June  i,  1840,  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  power  and  fortunes  were  almost  at 
their  highest  point.  During  his  residence  of  six- 
teen years  in  the  Oregon  Country  he  had  estab- 
lished the  business  of  his  Company  beyond  all 
question,  and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  its  board 
of  directors.  The  Indians  were  peaceable  and 
were  friendly  and  obedient  to  him  and  to  his  Com- 
pany. He  was  respected  and  liked  by  all  its  offi- 
cers, servants,  and  employees.  With  them  he  was 
supreme  in  every  way,  without  jealousy  and  with- 
out insubordination.  He  had  become,  for  those 
days,  a  rich  man,  his  salary  was  twelve  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  and  his  expenses  were  compara- 
tively small.  He  was  then  fifty-six  years  old.  He 
had  prepared  to  end  his  days  in  Oregon  on  his 
land  claim.  His  children  had  reached  the  age  of 
manhood  and  womanhood.  Few  men  at  his  age 
have  a  pleasanter,  or  more  reasonable  expectation 
of  future  happiness  than  he  then  had. 

The  half-tone  portrait  of  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
shown  facing  page  62,  was  taken  from  a  miniature, 
painted  on  ivory,  in  London,  probably  when  he 
was  in  London  in  1838-9.  It  portrays  Dr. 
McLoughlin  as  he  was  in  his  happy  days.  This 
miniature  now  belongs  to  the  widow  of  James  W. 
McL.  Harvey,  who  was  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin. It  was  kindly  loaned  by  her  so  that  the 
half-tone  could  be  made  for  use  in  this  address. 


64  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Provisional   Government. 

For  convenience  I  shall  tell  of  the  Provisional 
Government  of  Oregon  before  I  speak  concerning 
Dr.  McLoughlin's  land  claim. 

About  1 841,  owning  to  the  death  of  Ev^ing  Young, 
intestate,  leaving  a  valuable  estate  and  no  heirs, 
the  residents  of  the  Oregon  Country  in  the  Wil- 
lamette Valley  saw  the  necessity  of  some  form  of 
government  until  the  Oregon  Question  should  be 
finally  settled.  As  under  the  Conventions  of  18 18 
and  1827  there  was  joint-occupancy  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  Oregon  Coun- 
try was  without  any  laws  in  force.  It  was  common- 
ly understood,  at  that  time,  that  most  of  the  Amer- 
icans in  Oregon  favored  a  provisional  organiza- 
tion -  one  which  would  exist  until  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  should  be  extended  over  the  Ore- 
gon Country.  It  was  also  commonly  understood 
that  the  British  residents  in  Oregon  opposed  a 
provisional  government,  as  it  might  interfere  with 
their  allegiance  to  Great  Britain.  As  there  was  a 
joint-occupancy,  and  the  British  were  legally  on 
an  equality  with  the  Americans,  each  had  equal 
rights  in  the  matter.  February  17  and  18,  1841, 
a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  was  held  at  the 
Methodist  Mission.  Although  attempts  were  then 
made  to  form  a  government,  several  officers  were 
appointed,  and  a  committee  appointed  for  framing 
a  constitution  and  a  code  of  laws,  the  movement 
failed.  The  matter  lay  dormant  until  the  spring 
of  1843.  The  immigration  of  1842,  although  small, 
and  although  about  half  of  them  went  to  Califor- 
nia in  the  spring  of  1843,  materially  increased  the 
strength  of  the  Americans  in  Oregon. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  S^ 

After  several  preliminary  meetings  had  been 
held,  the  momentous  meeting  of  May  2,  1843,  was 
held  at  Champoeg,  when,  by  the  vote  of  52  in 
favor  and  50  against,  the  Provisional  Government 
of  Oregon  was  created.  Certain  officers  were  elect- 
ed and  a  legislative  committee  of  six  was  appoint- 
ed, the  latter  to  report  July  5,  1843.  On  the  latter 
day  most  of  the  report  was  adopted,  an  executive 
committee  of  three  persons,  David  Hill,  Alanson 
Beers,  and  Joseph  Gale,  was  chosen  in  place  of  a 
governor,  and  Oregon  had  at  least  a  de  facto 
government,  which,  with  some  changes,  continued 
until  Oregon  had  a  Territorial  Government,  in 
1849.  George  Abernethy,  the  steward  of  the 
Methodist  Mission,  was  elected  Governor  in  1845, 
and  by  re-election  continued  to  be  Governor  until 
the  arrival  of  Gen.  Joseph  Lane,  the  first  Terri- 
torial Governor,  in  March,  1849.  The  Mission 
Party  was  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  influential 
political  parties  in  Oregon  until  the  election  of 
Governor  Joseph  Lane  as  Delegate  to  Congress, 
June  2,  1851.^*  At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the 
Provisional  Government,  the  residents  of  Oregon 
seem  to  have  been  divided  into  three  classes,  or 
parties:  one  favored  a  provisional  government, 
favorable  to  the  United  States;  another  favored  an 
independent  government,  which  would  be  neutral 
as  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain; 
the  third  believed  that  matters  should  remain  in 
statu  quo.  For  some  reason  Jason  Lee  and  George 
Abernethy,  and  some  others  of  the  Methodist  mis- 
sionaries, seem  originally  to  have  belonged  to  or 


History  of  Oregon  by  Rev.  H.  K.  Hines,  D.D.,  pp.  i66,  167. 


()()  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

to  have  favored  the  third  class. ^^  In  the  "Political 
History  of  Oregon"  by  J.  Henry  Brown,  he  says 
(page  95)  that  at  a  meeting  of  the  committee  held 
at  Oregon  City,  in  March,  1843,  "Rev.  Jason  Lee 
and  Mr.  Abernethy  were  disposed  to  ridicule  the 
proposed  organization  [i.e.,  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment] as  foolish  and  unnecessary,  and  repeated 
some  anecdotes  to  illustrate  their  meaning." 

Dr.  McLoughlin  was  not  originally  in  favor  of 
the  Provisional  Government.  It  was  openly  and 
avowedly  advocated  as  being  in  favor  of  the  United 
States,  and  against  Great  Britain.  Once  started, 
without  a  trial,  no  one  could  know  where  it  would 
end.  Already  some  of  the  Americans  had  de- 
nounced the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  and  had  made  threats  against  the 
property  of  the  Company.  His  loan  of  cattle  had 
been  misunderstood  and  denounced.  Some  of  the 
Americans  seemed  not  to  be  aware  that  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  was  lawfully  in  the  Oregon 
Country,  under  the  Conventions  for  joint-occu- 
pancy. To  aid  or  to  assist  the  establishment  of  a 
government,  owing  exclusive  allegiance  to  the 
United  States,  would  be,  or  might  be  disloyalty  by 
Dr.  McLoughlin  to  his  Country  and  be  injurious 
or  fatal  to  his  Company  in  Oregon.  By  the  consti- 
tution or  compact  of  the  Provisional  Government, 
as  established  in  1843,  each  officer  was  required  to 
take  an  oath  or  affirmation  "to  support  the  laws  of 
the  territory,"  without  qualification.  There  was, 
too,  his  land  claim  at  Oregon  City,  which  the  land 
laws  of  the  Provisional  Government,    as    estab- 

*"  Gray's  History  of  Oregon,  pp.  268,  269. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  67 

lished,  sought  to  deprive  Dr.  McLoughlin  of,  and 
to  give,  at  least  a  part  of  it,  to  the  Methodist  Mis- 
sion. About  the  status  of  his  land  claim  I  shall 
presently  explain.  There  was,  also,  the  cry  of 
"54-40  or  fight"  and  the  chance  of  war  over  the 
Oregon  Country  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain.  Dr.  McLoughlin  appealed  to  the 
directors  of  his  Company  for  protection  to  their 
property,  but  none  came.  In  June,  1844,  he  re- 
ceived an  answer  from  his  Company  that  it  could 
not  obtain  protection  from  the  British  Govern- 
ment, and  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  must 
protect  itself  the  best  it  could.  The  fortifications 
at  Fort  Vancouver  were  strengthened.  There  was 
threatened  trouble  in  the  air.  It  looked  as  though 
there  might  be  war  in  Oregon. 

In  1845  the  Provisional  Government  attempted 
to  extend  its  jurisdiction  north  of  the  Columbia 
River.  It  became  a  question  of  acquiescence  or 
actual  opposition  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
Jesse  Applegate,  one  of  the  best  and  noblest  of 
Oregon's  pioneers,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Pro- 
visional Legislature  and  one  of  a  committee,  pri- 
vately interviewed  Dr.  McLoughlin.  After  con- 
sulting with  James  Douglas,  his  chief  assistant,  a 
compromise  was  finally  agreed  to  by  which  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  would  be  taxed  only  on 
goods  sold  to  the  settlers.  August  15,  1845,  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  with  all  the  British  resi- 
dents, became  parties  to  the  Oregon  Provisional 
Government.  The  oath  of  office  as  provided  by 
the  compact  of  1843  had  been  changed  by  what  is 
called  the  "Organic  Act"  of  the  Provisional  Gov- 


68  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

emment,  adopted  by  the  people,  by  popular  vote, 
July  26,  1845.  As  so  amended  the  oath  of  office 
required  each  officer  to  swear  that  he  would  '*sup- 
port  the  organic  laws  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment of  Oregon,  so  iar  as  said  organic  laws  are 
consistent  with  my  duties  as  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  or  a  subject  of  Great  Britain."  The  land 
law  of  1843  was  also  changed  by  said  vote  of  the 
people,  July  26,  1845,  by  which  the  objectionable 
features,  so  far  as  Dr.  McLoughlin's  land  claim  at 
Oregon  City  was  concerned,  were  largely  elimi- 
nated. Under  the  circumstances  joining  the  Pro- 
visional Government  was  a  good  and  wise  move 
on  the  part  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  But  he  was 
severely  criticized  therefor  by  his  Company.  Un- 
known to  Dr.  McLoughlin,  there  was  then  a  large 
British  fleet  of  war  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

A  few  days  after  Dr.  McLoughlin,  for  himself 
and  his  Company,  had  thus  joined  the  Provisional 
Government,  he  was  surprised  by  the  arrival  from 
Puget  Sound  of  Lieut.  Wm.  Peel,  son  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  and  Captain  Park  of  the  Royal 
Marines,  with  a  letter  from  Captain  Gordon,  com- 
manding the  British  50-gun  ship-of-war  America, 
then  in  Puget  Sound,  and  also  a  letter  from  Ad- 
miral Seymour,  commanding  the  British  fleet, 
that  "firm  protection"  would  be  given  British  sub- 
jects in  Oregon.  Subsequently  the  British  war 
sloop,  Modeste,  18  guns,  arrived  at  Fort  Van- 
couver, where  she  remained  until  the  boundary 
treaty  of  1846  was  entered  into.''^ 


^"  "Narrative  of  Dr.  McLoughlin"  published  in  the  Quarterly  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society,  June,  1900. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  69 

Immigration  of  1 842. 

In  1842  came  the  immigration  of  that  year, 
which  is  now  counted  the  first  real  immigration  of 
American  settlers  to  Oregon.  I  believe,  however, 
that  the  immigration  of  1843  should  be  called  the 
first  immigration  of  Oregon  home-builders.  But 
that  question  is  not  material  in  this  address.  The 
number  of  the  immigrants  of  1842  has  been  vari- 
ously estimated,  but,  after  a  somewhat  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  matter,  I  believe  there  were  all 
told  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five.  Of  this 
number  about  fifty-five  were  men  over  eighteen 
years  of  age.  These  immigrants  left  their  wagons 
at  Fort  Hall  and  used  pack  horses.  They  came 
from  The  Dalles  to  Oregon  City,  overland,  by  the 
Indian  trail  which  passed  near  Mt.  Hood.^^ 

Many  of  the  immigrants  of  1842  were  disap- 
pointed in  Oregon.  The  country  was  then  very 
new,  and  they  became  discontented.  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin engaged  many  to  labor  at  fair  wages,  and 
furnished  goods  on  credit  to  those  who  could  not 
make  immediate  payment.  Some  of  them  were  of 
a  roving  or  adventurous  class,  ever  seeking  new 
places.  In  the  spring  of  1843  nearly  half  of  them 
went  to  California,  leaving  on  their  journey  May 
30,  from  Champoeg.  Dr.  McLoughlin  furnished 
these  emigrants  to  California  with  supplies,  upon 
their  promise  to  pay  for  the  same  to  W.  G.  Rae, 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  agent  at  Yerba 
Buena  (now  San  Francisco).  Most  of  them  did 
not  pay,  and  Dr.  McLoughlin  personally  assumed 
the  payment  of  this  indebtedness. 

"^  Address  of  Medorum  Crawford,  in  1881.  See  Transactions  of 
the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1881,  p.  14. 


70  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Immigration  of  184J. 

In  1843  came  the  first  great  immigration  to  Ore- 
gon. As  if  by  a  common  impulse,  and  without 
preconcert,  the  immigrants  met  at  Independence, 
Missouri,  leaving  there  for  Oregon,  May  20,  1843. 
Peter  H.  Burnett,  afterwards  a  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Oregon  Provisional  Government,  and  the  first 
Governor  of  the  State  of  California,  was  the  first 
Captain.  J.  W.  Nesmith,  afterwards  United 
States  Senator  from  Oregon,  was  Orderly  Ser- 
geant. About  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  men, 
women,  and  children  composed  this  immigration. 
Of  these  there  were  two  hundred  and  ninety-five 
men,  over  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  In  this  immi- 
gration were  my  grandfather,  John  Holman,  and 
his  son,  Daniel  S.  Holman,  then  nearly  twenty-one 
years  old. 

After  first  arriving  at  the  Columbia  River,  they 
straggled  and  struggled  along  the  Columbia  River 
to  Fort  Vancouver  -  a  few  driving  cattle,  going 
overland  by  the  Indian  trail  from  near  The  Dalles 
to  Oregon  City.  There  was  not  then  any  way  to 
take  wagons  by  land  from  The  Dalles  to  the  Wil- 
lamette Valley.  A  few  of  the  immigrants  went 
down  the  Columbia  River  to  The  Dalles  in  boats. 
In  one  of  these  parties  three  persons  were  drowned 
by  the  capsizing  of  boats.  The  rest  of  the  immi- 
grants went  to  The  Dalles  overland  with  their 
wagons.  From  The  Dalles  to  the  Cascades  some 
of  them  went  by  boats,  others  went  on  rafts,  which 
they  constructed.  There  was  great  difficulty  in 
going  from  the  Upper  Cascades  to  the  Lower  Cas- 
cades. The  rafts  could  not  be  taken  over  the  rapids. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  71 

It  took  about  two  weeks  to  cut  a  trail  around  the 
Cascades.  The  rains  set  in.  The  position  of  the 
immigrants  was  desperate.  Some  did  not  arrive  at 
Fort  Vancouver  until  about  Christmas.  They  had 
not  anticipated  such  hardships  and  privations  as 
they  were  then  suffering.  Few  had  sufficient  food 
or  raiment,  many  were  absolutely  destitute.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  sent  supplies  to  be  sold  to  those  who 
were  able,  and  to  those  who  could  not  buy,  the 
supplies  were  furnished  on  credit,  or  given  to 
them.  He  furnished  boats  to  carry  them  from  the 
Cascades  to  Fort  Vancouver.  He  caused  the  sick 
to  be  attended  to,  and  nursed  at  the  Company's 
hospital  at  Fort  Vancouver.  He  furnished  them 
every  assistance  as  long  as  they  required  it.  Time 
will  not  permit  me  to  go  into  the  details. 

When  the  immigrants  of  1843  were  thus  coming 
along  the  Columbia  River,  some  helpless  and  al- 
most hopeless,  there  was  a  plot  by  the  Indians  to 
massacre  these  Americans.  It  was  prevented  by 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  The  effect  of  such  a  massacre 
would  have  been  tremendous.  It  would  have,  prob- 
ably, prevented  the  further  settlement  of  Oregon 
for  years.  Had  the  United  States  sent  troops  to 
punish  the  Indians  in  the  disputed  Oregon  Coun- 
try, it  would  have  almost  certainly  precipitated  a 
war  with  Great  Britain. 

In  presenting  the  McLoughlin  Document  to  the 
Oregon  Pioneer  Society,  in  1880,  Col.  J.  W.  Ne- 
smith  said:  "I  had  intended  reading  it  to  you  as 
a  part  of  my  address,  but,  having  already  tres- 
passed too  long  upon  your  patience,  I  shall  hand 
the  document  to  the  secretary  of  the  Society,  with 


72  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

my  endorsement  of  the  truth  of  all  its  statements 
that  came  within  my  own  knowledge.  ...  I 
desire  to  say,  what  I  believe  all  old  pioneers  will 
agree  to,  that  the  statements  of  this  paper  fur- 
nished a  .  .  .  complete  vindication  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  acts  and  conduct,  and  that  the  in- 
tegrity of  his  narrative  cannot  be  impeached  by 
any  honest  testimony."  In  the  McLoughlin  Docu- 
ment Dr.  McLoughlin  says:  "In  1843,  about  800 
immigrants  arrived  from  the  States.  I  saw  by  the 
looks  of  the  Indians  that  they  were  excited,  and  I 
watched  them.  As  the  first  stragglers  were  arriv- 
ing at  Vancouver  in  canoes,  and  I  was  standing  on 
the  bank,  nearer  the  water  there  was  a  group  of 
ten  or  twelve  Indians.  One  of  them  bawled  out 
to  his  companions,  'It  is  good  for  us  to  kill  these 
Bostons  [Americans].'  Struck  with  the  excite- 
ment I  had  seen  in  the  countenances  of  the  Indians 
since  they  had  heard  the  report  of  the  immigration 
coming,  I  felt  certain  they  were  inclined  to  mis- 
chief, and  that  he  spoke  thus  loud  as  a  feeler  to 
sound  me,  and  take  their  measures  accordingly. 
I  immediately  rushed  on  them  with  my  cane,  call- 
ing out  at  the  same  time,  'Who  is  the  dog  that 
says  it  is  a  good  thing  to  kill  the  Bostons?'  The 
fellow,  trembling,  excused  himself,  'I  spoke  with- 
out meaning  harm,  but  The  Dalles  Indians  say 
so.'  'Well,'  said  I,  'The  Dalles  Indians  are  dogs 
for  saying  so,  and  you  also,'  and  left  him,  as,  if 
I  had  remained  longer  it  would  have  had  a  bad 
effect.  I  had  done  enough  to  convince  them  I 
would  not  allow  them  to  do  wrong  to  the  immi- 
grants with  impunity.     From  this  Indian  saying,. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  73 

in  the  way  he  did,  that  The  Dalles  Indians  said 
it  was  good  to  kill  the  Bostons,  I  felt  it  my  duty 
to  do  all  I  could  to  avert  so  horrid  a  deed. 

"Mr.  P.  L.  Edwards,  whom  I  mentioned,  came 
in  1834,  with  the  Messrs.  Lee,  and  left  in  1838, 
and  sent  me  a  letter  by  Gen.  McCarver,  stating  he 
had  given  a  letter  of  introduction  to  me  to  P.  H. 
Burnett,  Esq.  I  immediately  formed  my  plan 
and  kept  my  knowledge  of  the  horrid  design  of  the 
Indians  secret,  as  I  felt  certain  that  if  the  Amer- 
icans knew  it,  these  men  acting  independently  of 
each  other,  would  be  at  once  for  fighting,  which 
would  lead  to  their  total  destruction,  and  I  sent 
two  (2)  boats  with  provisions  to  meet  them;  sent 
provisions  to  Mr.  Burnett,  and  a  large  quantity  of 
provisions  for  sale  to  those  who  would  purchase, 
and  to  be  given  to  those  who  had  not  the  means, 
being  confident  that  the  fright  I  had  given  (as  I 
already  stated)  the  Indians  who  said  it  was  a  good 
thing  to  kill  the  Bostons  was  known  at  The  Dalles 
before  our  boats  were  there,  and  that  the  presence 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  people,  and  the 
assistance  they  afforded  the  immigrants,  would 
deter  the  Indians  from  doing  them  any  wrong, 
and  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  say  that  I  entirely 
succeeded." 

Dr.  McLoughlin  then  says,  in  this  Document, 
that  about  a  month  after  this  incident  he  told  Dr. 
Marcus  Whitman  what  had  occurred.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  thought  the  trouble  might  have  been 
started  by  some  Iroquois  Indian  in  the  employ  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  Dr.  McLoughlin 
was  anxious  "to  find  that  rascal  out  to  punish  him 


74  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

as  an  example  to  deter  others."  Dr.  Whitman  then 
said  that  he  had  known  of  this  trouble  among  the 
Indians  for  about  two  years,  although  he  had  said 
nothing  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  about  it,  and  that 
the  trouble  was  caused  by  a  Shawnee  Indian  named 
Tom  Hill,  who  is  said  to  have  been  educated  at 
Dartmouth  College.  He  had  urged  the  Indians 
to  allow  no  Americans  to  settle  on  their  lands,  as 
the  Americans  had  driven  out  the  Shawnees,  and 
that  the  Indians  about  Walla  Walla  said  the  Cay- 
uses  were  inclined  to  follow  the  advice  by  killing 
the  immigrants  who  first  came.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  Cayuses  were  the  Indians  who 
caused  the  Whitman  massacre  in  1847.  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin, in  this  Document,  then  says  that  he  be- 
lieves the  Indians  would  have  killed  these  immi- 
grants of  1843  but  for  the  decided  and  cautious 
manner  in  which  he  acted.  Dr.  McLoughlin  con- 
tinues: "And  the  reason  the  Indian  made  use  of 
the  expression  he  did  was  because  I  punished  the 
murderers  of  the  Smith  party;  and,  before  acting, 
they  wanted  to  know  how  I  would  treat  them.  And 
most  certainly  if  I  had  not  been  most  anxious  for 
the  safety  of  the  immigrants,  and  to  discharge  to 
them  the  duties  of  a  Christian,  my  ear  would  not 
have  caught  so  quickly  the  words,  'it  is  a  good 
thing  to  kill  these  Bostons,'  and  acted  as  I  did." 

Then  there  was  the  question  how  these  immi- 
grants of  1843  should  be  provided  for  during  the 
winter  and  until  the  next  harvest.  They  had  no 
implements,  no  seed.  There  was  a  crisis  impend- 
ing. Without  waiting  to  be  asked.  Dr.  McLough- 
lin gave  credit,  furnishing  these  immigrants  with 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  75 

food  and  clothing  for  the  present,  and  also  farm 
implements  and  seed-wheat  to  begin  their  farming. 
He  exacted  no  collateral,  he  gave  time  without 
interest.  All  this  was  against  the  rules  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  He  made  himself  personally 
liable  for  all  these  debts.  He  also  loaned  these 
immigrants  cattle,  including  cows,  and  also  hogs. 
Col.  J-.  W.  Nesmith,  one  of  the  immigrants  of 
1843,  in  his  address  before  the  Oregon  Pioneer 
Association  in  1876  said :  "Dr.  John  McLoughlin, 
then  at  the  head  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
from  his  own  private  resources,  rendered  the  new 
settlers  much  valuable  aid  by  furnishing  the  desti- 
tute with  food,  clothing,  and  seed,  waiting  for  his 
pay  until  they  had  a  surplus  to  dispose  of."  Peter 
H.  Burnett,  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken,  was 
one  of  the  immigrants  of  1843.  ^^  started  a  town 
and  called  it  Linnton,  which  was  situated  where 
the  present  town  of  Linnton  is  situated  -  eight 
miles  north  of  Portland  on  the  Willamette  River, 
and  about  half  way  between  Portland  and  Van- 
couver by  water.  He  kept  a  journal  of  his  travels, 
which  was  published,  in  part,  in  the  New  York 
Herald  in  1844.  Part  H  of  the  History  of  Oregon 
by  George  Wilkes,  published  in  1845,  is  largely 
taken  from  this  journal. ^^  In  this  journal 
Burnett  says : ""  "On  my  arrival  I  was  re- 
ceived with  great  kindness  by  Doctor  McLough- 
lin and  Mr.  James  Douglass,  the  second  in  com- 
mand. They  both  tendered  me  the  hospitalities  of 
the  fort,  which  offer,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say, 

*^  See  Quarterly  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society,  Vol.  3,  pp.  398-426. 
^^  Wilkes,  History  of  Oregon,  p.  95. 


76  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

I  accepted  willingly  and  with  pleasure.  .  .  . 
His  hospitality  is  unbounded,  and  I  will  sum  up 
all  his  qualities,  by  saying  that  he  is  beloved  by  all 
who  know  him.  .  .  .  The  kindness  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  to  this  emigration  has  been 
very  great.  He  furnished  them  with  goods 
and  provisions  on  credit,  and  such  as  were  sick 
were  sent  to  the  Hospital  free  of  expense,  where 
they  had  the  strict  and  careful  attendance  of  Dr. 
Barclay,  a  skillful  physician,  and  an  excellent  and 
humane  man.  The  Chief  Factor  [Dr.  McLough- 
lin] likewise  lent  the  emigrants  the  Company's 
boats,  to  bring  down  such  of  the  families  and  bag- 
gage as  had  been  left  at  the  Cascades  by  the  ad- 
vance guard  of  the  expedition,  which  had  pre- 
ceded me;  and  he  also  furnished  them  with  the 
facilities  for  crossing  the  river  with  their  cattle, 
at  Vancouver.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  kindness 
of  this  excellent  man,  many  of  us  would  have  suf- 
fered greatly.  ...  It  is  certain  that  the 
Doctor  himself  has  uniformly  aided  settlers,  by 
supplying  them  with  farming  implements,  and 
with  seed-grain,  as  a  loan,  to  be  returned  out  of 
the  succeeding  crop.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to 
lend  them  hogs,  to  be  returned  two  or  three  years 
afterward,  by  their  issue  of  the  same  age;  to  fur- 
nish oxen  to  break  their  ground,  and  cows  to  sup- 
ply milk  to  their  families.  This  certainly  appears 
to  me  to  be  a  very  poor  way  to  retard  the  settlement 
of  the  region,  and  to  discourage  adventurers  who 
arrive  in  it." 

In  1880  Mr.  Burnett,  then  ex-Governor  of  Cali- 
fornia, wrote  a  book    called  "Recollections    and 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  77 


Opinions  of  an  Old  Pioneer,"  so  that  we  have  his 
opinion  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  in  1843  contempora- 
neous with  the  events  I  speak  of,  and  also  his 
mature  reflections  thirty-seven  years  after  that.  On 
page  142  of  this  book  Mr.  Burnett  says:  "When 
we  arrived  in  Oregon  we  were  poor,  and  our  teams 
were  so  much  reduced  as  to  be  unfit  for  service 
until  the  next  spring.  Those  of  us  who  came  by 
water  from  Walla  Walla  left  our  cattle  there  for 
the  winter;  and  those  who  came  by  water  from 
The  Dalles  left  their  cattle  for  the  winter  at  that 
point.  Even  if  our  teams  had  been  fit  for  use  when 
we  arrived,  they  would  have  been  of  no  benefit  to 
us,  as  we  could  not  bring  them  to  the  Willamette 
Valley  until  the  spring  of  1844.  Pork  was  ten,  and 
flour  four  cents  a  pound,  and  other  provisions  in 
proportion.  These  were  high  prices  considering 
our  scanty  means  and  extra  appetites.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  generous  kindness  of  the  gentlemen 
in  charge  of  the  business  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  we  should  have  suffered  much  greater 
privations.  The  Company  furnished  many  of  our 
immigrants  with  provisions,  clothing,  seed,  and 
other  necessaries  on  credit.  This  was  done,  in 
many  instances,  where  the  purchasers  were  known 
to  be  of  doubtful  credit.  Many  of  our  immigrants 
were  unworthy  of  the  favors  they  received,  and 
only  returned  abuse  for  generosity." 

Captain  J.  C.  Fremont,  afterwards  Major-Gen- 
eral, in  the  United  States  Army,  was  at  Fort  Van- 
couver when  the  immigrants  of  1843  were  arriv- 
ing. On  page  191  of  the  Report  of  his  Second  Ex- 
ploring Expedition,   he   says:     "I    found    many 


78  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

American  emigrants  at  the  fort;  others  had  al- 
ready crossed  the  river  into  their  land  of  promise  - 
the  Walahmette  Valley.  Others  were  daily  arriv- 
ing; and  all  of  them  had  been  furnished  with  shel- 
ter, so  far  as  it  could  be  afforded  by  the  buildings 
connected  with  the  establishment.  Necessary 
clothing  and  provisions  [the  latter  to  be  afterwards 
returned  in  kind  from  the  produce  of  their  labor] 
were  also  furnished.  This  friendly  assistance  was 
of  very  great  value  to  the  emigrants,  whose  fami- 
lies were  otherwise  exposed  to  much  suffering  in 
the  winter  rains  which  had  now  commenced,  at 
the  same  time  that  they  were  in  want  of  all  the 
common  necessaries  of  life." 

Immigration  of  l844' 

The  immigration  of  1844  ^^^  composed  of 
about  fourteen  hundred  persons.  They  suffered 
many  hardships  and  many  lost  all,  or  a  part  of, 
their  cattle,  clothing,  and  goods.  Most  of  these 
immigrants  arrived  late  in  the  season.  Snow  be- 
gan to  fall  before  all  arrived  at  their  destinations. 
Boats  were  supplied  free,  and  provisions,  cattle, 
and  seed-wheat  were  furnished  them  on  credit  by 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  as  he  had  the  immigrants  of 
1843.  The  supplies  in  Oregon  had  been  nearly 
exhausted  by  the  immigration  of  1843,  although 
Dr.  McLoughlin  had  urged  the  raising  of  grain 
and  other  supplies  in  anticipation  of  the  coming 
of  the  immigration  of  1844.  The  available  sup- 
ply of  clothing  at  Fort  Vancouver  had  been  prac- 
tically exhausted  before  the  arrival  of  the  immi- 
gration of  1844. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  79 

John  Minto,  who  is  still  living  in  Oregon,  was 
one  of  the  immigrants  of  1844.  In  his  address 
presenting  to  the  State  of  Oregon  the  portrait  of 
Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  which  now  hangs  in  the 
Senate  Chamber,  he  said:  "To  the  assistance  given 
to  the  Immigrants  of  1843,  as  described  by  Col. 
Nesmith,  I  can  add  as  an  eyewitness,  that  those  of 
1844  received  the  loan  of  boats  in  which  to  descend 
the  Columbia  River  from  The  Dalles  (there  being 
no  road  across  the  Cascades  [mountains] )  ;  the 
hungry  were  fed,  the  sick  cared  for  and  nursed, 
and,  not  the  least,  was  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
employees  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  followed 
the  good  Doctor  in  their  treatment  of  the  Amer- 
icans. Especially  was  this  the  case  in  the  settle- 
ment of  retired  Canadians  who  almost  worshipped 
him." 

Joseph  Watt,  the  well-known  enterprising  pio- 
neer of  1844,  who  largely  assisted  in  starting  the 
first  woolen  mill  in  Oregon,  in  1857,  i^  ^^^  "Recol- 
lections of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,"  published  in 
the  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Associa- 
tion of  1886  said  (pages  24  and  25)  :  "On  the  13th 
of  November,  1844,  a  company  of  immigrants 
landed  at  Fort  Vancouver,  brought  there  on  a 
bateau  commanded  by  Joseph  Hess,  an  immigrant 
of  '43.  The  boat  belonged  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  Mr.  Hess  was  entrusted  with  the  boat 
for  the  purpose  of  bringing  immigrants  down  the 
river.  We  had  eaten  the  last  of  our  provisions  at 
our  last  camp,  and  were  told  by  Hess  that  we  could 
get  plenty  at  the  fort,  with  or  without  money  ;- 
that  the  old   Doctor  never  turned  people  away 


8o  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

hungry.  This  made  us  feel  quite  comfortable,  for 
there  was  not  a  dollar  among  us.  As  near  as  I  can 
remember  the  company  consisted  of  sixteen  men, 
five  women  and  four  children.  .  .  .  We  were 
the  first  to  arrive.  .  .  .  We  soon  found  the 
Doctor  in  a  small  room  he  called  his  office.  .  .  . 
He  spoke  of  our  being  so  late,  and  feared  there 
would  be  considerable  suffering  before  they  could 
all  be  taken  down  the  river,  but  should  do  all  in 
his  power  until  they  reached  their  destination. 

"We  then  made  known  to  him  our  wants.  We 
were  all  out  of  provisions.  There  was  a  small 
table  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  at  which  he  took  a 
seat,  and  directed  us  to  stand  in  a  line-  (there  be- 
ing so  many  of  us  the  line  reached  nearly  around 
the  room)  -  and  then  told  us  the  year  before,  and 
in  fact  previous  years,  he  had  furnished  the  people 
with  all  the  provisions  and  clothing  they  wanted, 
but  lately  had  established  a  trading  house  at  Ore- 
gon City,  where  we  could  get  supplies;  but  for 
immediate  necessity  he  would  supply  provisions 
at  the  fort.  Several  of  our  party  broke  in,  saying: 
'Doctor,  I  have  no  money  to  pay  you,  and  I  don't 
know  when  or  how  I  can  pay  you.'  'Tut,  tut,  never 
mind  that;  you  can't  suffer,'  said  the  Doctor.  He 
then  commenced  at  the  head  man  saying,  'Your 
name,  if  you  please;  how  many  in  the  family,  and 
what  do  you  desire?'  Upon  receiving  an  answer, 
the  Doctor  wrote  an  order,  directing  him  where  to 
go  to  have  it  filled;  then  called  up  the  next  man, 
and  so  on  until  we  were  all  supplied.  He  told  us 
the  account  of  each  man  would  be  sent  to  Oregon 
City,  and  when  we  took  a  claim,  and  raised  wheat, 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


we  could  settle  the  account  by  delivering  wheat  at 
that  place.  Some  few  who  came  after  us  got  cloth- 
ing. Such  was  the  case  with  every  boat  load,  and 
all  those  who  came  by  land  down  the  trail.  If  he 
had  said  'We  have  these  supplies  to  sell  for  cash 
down,'  I  think  we  would  have  suffered.  .  .  . 
When  we  started  to  Oregon,  we  were  all  preju- 
diced against  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  being  Chief  Factor  of  the  Com- 
pany for  Oregon,  came  in  for  a  double  share  of 
that  feeling.  I  think  a  great  deal  of  this  was 
caused  by  the  reports  of  missionaries  and  adverse 
traders,  imbuing  us  with  a  feeling  that  it  was  our 
mission  to  bring  this  country  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  stars  and  stripes.  But  when  we  found  him 
anxious  to  assist  us,  nervous  at  our  situation  in  be- 
ing so  late,  and  doing  so  much  without  charge,  - 
letting  us  have  of  his  store,  and  waiting  without 
interest,  until  we  could  make  a  farm  and  pay  him 
from  the  surplus  products  of  such  farm,  the  preju- 
dice heretofore  existing  began  to  be  rapidly  al- 
layed. We  did  not  know  that  every  dollar's  worth 
of  provisions,  etc.,  he  gave  us,  all  advice  and  assist- 
ance in  every  shape  was  against  the  positive  orders 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  ...  In  this 
connection  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  thousands  of  dol- 
lars virtually  loaned  by  him  to  settlers  at  different 
times  in  those  early  days,  was  never  paid,  as  an  ex- 
amination of  his  books  and  papers  will  amply 
testify." 

Immigration  of  184^. 

The  immigration  of  1845  numbered  about  three 


82  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

thousand  persons.  Many  of  them  suffered  more 
than  the  preceding  immigrations.  They  also  were 
assisted  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  as  he  had  the  immi- 
grants of  1843  and  1844.  For  this  he  was  charged 
with  disloyalty  by  one  of  the  British  spies  then  at 
Vancouver.  Stephen  Staats  was  one  of  the  im- 
migrants of  1845.  In  his  address  before  the  Ore- 
gon Pioneer  Association,  in  1877,  he  said:  "We 
reached  Oregon  City  in  thirteen  days  (overland) 
from  The  Dalles  (two  of  which  we  were  without 
food),  and  on  our  arrival,  those  of  us  in  advance 
were  kindly  and  hospitably  received  by  old  Dr. 
McLoughlin.  He  immediately  furnished  us  with 
provisions,  without  money  and  without  price,  and 
extended  to  us  favors  which  we  were  ever  ready  to 
reciprocate.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  wish  to 
cast  reflections  on  the  character  of  Dr.  McLough- 
lin, or  wish  to  impute  to  him  anything  wanting  in 
the  kindest  feeling  towards  the  immigrants  of  1845. 
For  well  do  I  know,  that  but  for  him,  many  would 
have  been  more  embarrassed  in  making  provision 
for  the  coming  winter's  necessities  than  they  were. 
And  I  have  yet  to  see  the  immigrant  of  1845,  who, 
when  speaking  of  the  'Old  Man  Doctor,'  does  not 
speak  in  high  commendation  of  his  actions  to- 
wards the  immigrants  of  that  year."  The  wise, 
humane,  and  paternal  foresight  of  Dr.  McLough- 
lin was  of  great  assistance  to  the  immigrants  of 
1845.  In  the  McLoughlin  Document  he  says: 
"When  the  immigration  of  1842  came,  we  had 
enough  of  breadstuffs  in  the  country  for  one  year, 
but  as  the  immigrants  reported  that  next  season 
there  would  be  a  great  immigration,  it  was  evident, 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  83 

if  there  was  not  a  proportionate  increase  of  seed 
sown  in  1843  and  1844,  there  would  be  a  famine  in 
the  country  in  1845,  which  would  lead  to  trouble, 
as  those  that  had  families,  to  save  them  from  star- 
vation, would  be  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  vio- 
lence to  get  food  for  them.  To  avert  this  I  freely 
supplied  the  immigrants  of  1843  and  1844  with  the 
necessary  articles  to  open  farms,  and  by  these 
means  avoided  the  evils.  In  short  I  afforded  every 
assistance  to  the  immigrants  so  long  as  they  re- 
quired it,  and  by  management  I  kept  peace  in  the 
country,  and  in  some  cases  had  to  put  up  with  a 
great  deal." 

The  Quality  of  the  Early  Immigrants. 

The  early  immigrants  to  Oregon  were  not  men- 
dicants nor  tramps.  It  is  true  some  of  them  were 
of  a  roving  disposition;  probably  a  few  were  of  the 
improvident  class.  Most  of  them  were  forceful, 
strong  men  and  women,  physically  and  mentally; 
strong  also  in  their  Americanism,  and  filled  with 
the  racial  instinct  to  follow  the  western  course  of 
Empire.  They  came  to  Oregon  as  home-builders. 
Many  of  them  had  their  lineage  from  the  pioneers 
who  first  settled  the  Atlantic  Coast,  particularly 
the  southern  part  of  it.  Descendants  of  these 
pioneers  had  crossed  the  mountains  and  were  the 
hardy  and  courageous  pioneers  of  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  in  the  early,  perilous,  and  heroic  days  of 
Daniel  Boone,  John  Sevier,  George  Rogers  Clark, 
and  James  Robertson.  The  ancestors  of  some  of 
these  Oregon  immigrants  had  taken  part  in  the 
great  war  of  the  American  Revolution  on  the  At- 


84  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

lantic  Coast,  and  had  then  assisted  in  upbuilding 
civilization  in  the  Middle  West.  These  fore- 
fathers had  won  the  Middle  West.  These  immi- 
grants came  to  win  Oregon.  The  grandfathers  and 
fathers  of  some  of  them  had  taken  part  in  the  war 
of  18 1 2,  and  in  the  later  Indian  wars.  A  few  of 
these  immigrants  were  veterans  of  the  war  of  18 12 
and  of  these  Indian  wars.  There  were  immigrants 
who  had  taken  active  part  in  the  troubles  with 
the  Mormons  and  had  assisted  in  driving  them 
out  of  Western  Missouri.  It  was  of  this  stock  that 
parts  of  Missouri,  and  especially  the  western  part 
of  that  state,  had  been  then  largely  peopled,  and 
many  of  these  Oregon  immigrants  had  settled' 
there  temporarily  before  coming  to  Oregon.  A 
great  majority  of  the  immigrants  to  Oregon  from 
1843  to  1846,  inclusive,  and  of  some  of  the  later 
immigrants,  were  from  the  Southern  States.  They, 
and  their  ancestors  for  many  generations,  had  been 
born  and  brought  up  in  the  South.  Most  of  them 
had  the  good  qualities  and  were  of  the  high  type 
of  American  citizenship  characteristic  of  the 
white  people  of  the  South.  They  were  mostly 
plain  people,  but  they  and  their  ancestry  were  of 
good  class.  Theirs  was  an  inheritance  of  indomi- 
table will,  high  courage,  and  noble  purposes. 
Their  ancestors  had  conquered,  settled,  and  up- 
builded  the  country  from  the  seaboards  of  Virginia 
and  the  Carolinas  to  the  Mississippi  River.^^  Ore- 
gon was  another  land  to  conquer,  to  settle,  and  to 
upbuild.  There  were  also  in  these  early  immigra- 
tions a  number  of  men  and  women,  descendants  of 

^*  See  Theodore  Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


the  sturdy  peoples  who  settled  in  New  England, 
and  in  other  Northern  States.  There  were  a  few 
men  who  were  attracted  to  Oregon  by  the  love  of 
adventure  incident  to  the  journey  and  to  the  settle- 
ment of  a  new  country.  There  were  also  a  few  men, 
born  outside  of  the  United  States,  who  allied  them- 
selves with  the  Americans,  and  became  identified 
with  the  Americans  in  Oregon,  and  subsequently 
were  admitted  as  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

The  places  these  immigrants  left  to  come  to 
Oregon,  although  some  of  these  places  were  com- 
paratively new,  were  mostly  over-supplied  with 
unsold  agricultural  products  -  unsalable  for  want 
of  markets.  The  early  books  and  pamphlets  on 
Oregon  and  the  stirring  speeches  of  Oregon  enthu- 
siasts, who  had  never  been  to  Oregon,  pictured 
Oregon  as  the  traditional  land  of  plenty  and  of 
''milk  and  honey."  There  was,  too,  an  abiding 
faith  in  the  future,  a  certain  improvidence  born 
of  strong  manhood  and  womanhood.  They  were 
filled  with  confidence  in  their  ability  to  conquer 
all  troubles  and  overcome  all  difficulties.  They 
did  not  think  of  failure  -  they  intended  to  succeed. 
Then,  too,  the  journey  was  longer  and  more  ardu- 
ous than  they  had  anticipated.  Their  greatest 
dangers  and  troubles  were  after  they  had  entered 
the  Oregon  Country  and  reached  the  Columbia 
River.  All  east  of  that  river,  with  its  hardships, 
was  comfortable  compared  with  the  troubles  and 
dangers  to  come.  They  did  not  come  seeking,  nor 
did  they  seek  charity  or  alms.  The  true,  honest, 
brave-hearted  immigrants  wished  to  pay  for  what 
they  obtained,  and  did  as  soon  as  they  were  able 


86  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

to  do  so.  They  were  met  by  conditions  which  they 
could  not,  or  did  not,  foresee.  Dr.  John  Mc- 
Loughlin, with  his  great,  manly  prescience,  ap- 
preciated all  this.  He  sold  provisions  and  cloth- 
ing to  those  who  could  pay;  equally,  he  sold  on 
credit,  to  those  who  could  not,  without  references, 
without  collaterals.  He  understood  the  quality  of 
most  of  these  pioneers  -  he  was  unfortunately  in 
error  as  to  some  of  them.  It  was  not  charity  on 
the  part  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  it  was  the  exercise  of 
that  great  quality,  which  he  possessed  in  an  extra- 
ordinary degree  -  humanity. 

I  regret  to  say  that  a  few  of  these  early  immi- 
grants, at  times,  without  cause,  were  rude  to  Dr. 
McLoughlin  and  abusive  of  his  Company,  and  of 
his  Country.  Some  of  these  did  not  care  -  others 
had  been  prejudiced  by  false  information,  which 
they  had  read  or  heard  before  they  left  their 
homes,  or  on  the  way  to  Oregon.  Some,  I  still 
more  regret  to  say,  accepted  the  credit  extended  to 
them  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and  never  paid.  But 
the  payment  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  of 
these  bad  debts  was  assumed  by  Dr.  McLoughlin. 
The  aggregate  amount  is  not  definitely  known,  for 
Dr.  McLoughlin  suffered,  in  many  ways,  in 
silence.  But  it  was  a  very  large  sum.  Those  who 
paid  in  full  could  not  requite  his  kindness  to  them. 

The  real  Oregon  pioneers  are  these  overland 
immigrants  who  came  to  Oregon  prior  to  1847. 
The  immigrants  of  1846  were  a  long  way  on  their 
journey  to  Oregon  when  the  Boundary  Treaty  was 
made.  They  left  on  their  journey  early  in  May, 
1846.    This  treaty  was  signed  at  Washington,  June 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  87 

15,  1846.  The  proclamation  by  the  President  of 
the  Treaty  and  of  its  ratification  by  the  two  coun- 
tries is  dated  August  5,  1846.  The  immigrants  of 
1846  did  not  know  that  the  Treaty  had  been  made, 
signed,  or  confirmed  until  after  their  arrival  in 
Oregon.  The  news  that  the  Treaty  had  been 
signed  came  by  a  sailing  vessel,  and  did  not  reach 
Oregon  until  November,  1846.^^  The  distance 
traveled  by  the  immigrants  to  Oregon,  from  the 
rendezvous  at  Independence,  Missouri,  to  Oregon 
City,  was  about  two  thousand  miles.  The  usual 
time  in  making  this  journey  was  between  five  and 
six  months.  Ox-teams  were  used  almost  exclusive- 
ly. It  was  thought  that  the  use  of  horses  for  teams 
was  impracticable.  It  was  feared  there  would  be 
insufficient  food  for  such  horses,  on  the  way,  as 
the  numbers  would  be  large.  It  would  be  neces- 
sary to  keep  these  horses  shod  for  pulling  the 
heavily  loaded  wagons.  Many  horses  were  brought 
which  were  used  for  riding,  rounding-up  cattle, 
and  in  hunting.  There  were  practical  difficul- 
ties in  caring  for,  and  feeding  horses  at  night. 
Horses  had  to  be  "staked"  at  night,  cattle  would 
graze  at  large.  Horses  were  liable  to  be  stam- 
peded and  be  lost  or  be  stolen  by  the  Indians. 
Oxen  were  much  cheaper  than  horses.  It  would 
require  at  least  four  horses  to  a  wagon.  It  was  de- 
sirable to  have  cows  to  furnish  milk  on  the  way, 
especially  for  the  children.  Good  cattle  were 
scarce  in  Oregon  and  it  was  desirable  to  take  cows 
and  bulls  for  breeding  purposes,  and  other  cattle 
for  beef.    Many  of  these  immigrants  brought  cat- 

*'  Oregon  Spectator,  Noyember  12,  1846. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


tie  with  them  in  addition  to  their  ox-teams.  These 
cattle  and  ox-teams  could  not  travel  as  fast  as 
horses  and  the  speed  of  the  latter  necessarily  would 
be  kept  to  that  of  the  ox-teams.  Should  oxen  be 
lost  or  die,  their  places  could  be  taken  by  cattle  or 
even  by  cows.    This  was  not  infrequently  done. 

These  early  immigrants  all  came  to,  or  started 
for  Oregon,  overland,  in  the  time  of  joint- 
occupancy.  They  were  not  encouraged,  helped, 
nor  protected  by  the  Government  in  coming 
to  Oregon.  There  were  no  United  States  troops 
in  the  Oregon  Country,  or  near  the  immigrant 
trail  prior  to  1849.  The  Cayuse  Indian  war  of 
1847-8  was  carried  on  by  the  Oregon  Provis- 
ional Government  alone,  without  assistance  from 
the  United  States  Government.  This  war  was 
fought  wholly  by  volunteers  from  the  Willam- 
ette Valley.  The  coming  of  these  early  immi- 
grants assisted  to  hold  Oregon  for  the  United 
States,  and  greatly  contributed  to  the  settlement 
of  the  Oregon  Question.  They  relied  on  them- 
selves but  they  believed  that  their  Country  would 
protect  its  own  in  Oregon.  Their  rights  and  cour- 
age could  not  be  ignored.  There  was  no  one  man 
who  saved  Oregon.  If  any  persons  saved  Oregon, 
they  were  these  immigrants  from  1843  to  and  in- 
cluding 1846.  There  is  not  a  true  American  who 
does  not  take  pride  in  the  daring  of  these  pioneers 
and  in  what  they  accomplished  in  coming  to  Ore- 
gon. Whatever  some  of  them  may  have  lacked, 
in  certain  qualities,  and  in  spite  of  the  bad  treat- 
ment, by  some  of  them,  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  the 
patriotism  and  courage  of  most  of  them  were  of 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  89 

the  highest  types.  This  great  movement  of  immi- 
grants to  Oregon  from  1843  to  1846,  inclusive, 
may  not,  even  now,  be  thoroughly  understood  nor 
explained  but  it  is  fully  appreciated.  With  all  its 
dangers  and  hardships,  with  all  its  mystery  and 
simplicity,  and  its  commonplaces,  it  stands  today 
one  of  the  most  daring  colonizing  movements  for, 
and  the  most  remarkable,  interesting,  and  romantic 
story  of  the  settlement  and  upbuilding  of  any  part 
of  the  continents  of  the  two  Americas. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  these  aids  by 
Dr.  McLoughlin  to  the  immigrants  of  1843,  and 
succeeding  years,  were  after  some  of  the  Methodist 
missionaries  had  attempted  to  take  his  land  claim, 
and  succeeded  in  part.  The  history  of  these  trans- 
actions I  shall  presently  relate.  And  did  the  secu- 
lar department  of  the  Methodist  Mission  assist 
these  early  pioneers  in  any  way  similar  to  what  was 
done  by  Dr.  McLoughlin?  If  so,  I  have  found  no 
trace  nor  record  of  it.  Undoubtedly  Methodist 
missionaries,  individually,  did  many  kindly  acts 
to  destitute  immigrants.  Had  Dr.  McLoughlin 
acted  with  the  supineness  of  the  Methodist  Mis- 
sion toward  the  immigrants  of  1843,  1844,  and 
1845,  and  especially  that  of  1843,  the  consequences 
would  have  been  terrible.  Leaving  out  the  prob- 
ability of  massacres  by  the  Indians,  many  immi- 
grants would  have  died  from  starvation,  exposure 
and  lack  of  clothing  along  the  Columbia  River, 
or  after  their  arrival  in  the  Willamette  Valley.  It 
is  true  Fort  Vancouver  might  have  been  captured 
and  destroyed.  That  would  have  given  no  perma- 
nent relief.     That  would  probably  have  been  the 


90  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

beginning  of  a  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain.  Even  without  a  war  the  settle- 
ment of  Oregon  would  have  been  delayed  for  many- 
years.  And  all  of  the  Oregon  Country  north  of 
the  Columbia  River  might  have  been  lost  to  the 
United  States. 

Sir  George  Simpson,  the  Governor  in  Chief  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  severely  criticized 
Dr.  McLoughlin  for  his  assistance  to  the  immi- 
grants. There  was  an  acrimonious  correspondence 
between  them  on  the  subject.  As  I  am  informed,  it 
was  in  this  correspondence,  which  I  have  not  seen, 
that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  written  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  that  he  had  furnished  these  supplies 
to  the  immigrants,  saying  that,  as  a  man  of  com- 
mon humanity,  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  do 
otherwise  than  as  he  did;  that  he  had  only  done 
what  anyone  truly  a  man  would  have  done.  That 
it  was  then  insisted  by  Governor  Simpson  that  Dr. 
McLoughlin  should  no  longer  assist  any  needy 
immigrants,  or  help  any  other  immigrants.  To 
this  Dr.  McLoughlin  made  the  noble  reply,  "Gen- 
tlemen, if  such  is  your  order,  I  will  serve  you 
no  longer."  This  reply  was  made  by  Dr. 
McLoughlin  -  the  only  question  is  as  to  the  exact 
time  and  place  it  was  made. 

The  Resignation  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin. 

In  1845  Dr.  McLoughlin  sent  in  his  resignation 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Its  rules  re- 
quired one  year's  notice  before  an  officer  could  re- 
sign. His  resignation  took  effect  before  the  immi- 
gration of  1846  arrived.    As  this  address  relates  to 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  91 


Dr.  McLoughlin,  and  only  incidentally  to  the 
Oregon  Pioneers,  I  shall  not  go  into  details  about 
the  immigrations  succeeding  that  of  1845.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  kept  a  store  and  lived  at  Oregon  City 
after  his  resignation.  To  the  immigrants  of  1846 
and  after,  and  to  others,  as  long  as  he  was  in  busi- 
ness there,  he  continued,  as  far  as  he  was  able, 
the  same  hospitality  and  the  same  good  and  hu- 
mane treatment  he  had  exercised  when  Chief  Fac- 
tor at  Fort  Vancouver.  The  Barlow  road  was  built 
in  1846  and  the  immigrants  of  that  year  and  suc- 
ceeding years  could  bring  their  wagons  by  that 
road  from  The  Dalles,  over  the  Cascade  Moun- 
tains, to  Oregon  City.  By  common  consent  of  all 
good,  honest  pioneers,  he  had  been  named  "The 
Good  Doctor,"  and  "The  Good  Old  Doctor,"  and 
he  was  known  by  these  names  to  the  time  of  his 
death.  They  also  came  to  call  him  the  "Father  of 
Oregon."  Dr.  McLoughlin's  resignation  from  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  became  necessary  to  main- 
tain his  self-respect. 

I  have  spoken  of  Capt.  Park  and  Lieut.  Peel, 
British  officers,  who  brought  the  letters  of  Admiral 
Seymour  and  Captain  Gordon  to  Dr.  McLoughlin 
in  1845.  They  were  also  sent  as  spies.  They  were 
succeeded  by  two  more  spies,  Capt.  Warre  and 
Lieut.  Vavasour,  both  of  the  British  army.  The 
two  latter  stayed  at  Fort  Vancouver  and  elsewhere 
in  Oregon  for  some  time.  In  their  report  Warre 
and  Vavasour  charged,  mainly,  that  the  policy 
pursued  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  at  the  different  forts  in  the  Oregon 
Country,  had  tended  to  the  introduction  of  Ameri- 


92  Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 

can  settlers  into  the  country  until  they  outnum- 
bered the  British.  To  prove  this  position,  they  in- 
stanced the  assistance  rendered  the  different  immi- 
grations, one  of  which  (1845)  was  arriving  while 
they  were  at  Vancouver.  They  charged  that  goods 
had  been  sold  to  the  American  settlers  at  cheaper 
rates  than  to  British  subjects;  that  Dr.  McLough- 
lin  and  the  Company  had  suffered  themselves  to 
join  the  Provisional  Government  "without  any  re- 
serve except  the  mere  form  of  the  oath;"  that  their 
lands  had  been  invaded,  and  themselves  insulted, 
until  they  required  the  protection  of  the  British 
government  "against  the  very  people  to  the  intro- 
duction of  whom  they  had  been  more  than  acces- 
sory." There  was  more  in  this  report  of  like  im- 
port. 

As  was  to  be  expected  Dr.  McLoughlin's  answer 
was  dignified,  forceful,  and  sufficient.  I  give  only 
a  few  of  his  points.^^  In  his  answer  Dr.  McLough- 
lin  said,  concerning  his  treatment  of  the  mission- 
aries: "What  would  you  have?  Would  you  have 
me  turn  the  cold  shoulder  to  the  men  of  God,  who 
came  to  do  that  for  the  Indians  which  this  Com- 
pany has  neglected  to  do?"  He  said  he  had  tried 
to  prevent  the  American  settlers  remaining  idle, 
becoming  destitute,  and  dangerous  to  the  Com- 
pany's servants.  Drive  them  away  he  could  not, 
having  neither  the  right  nor  the  power.  That  these 
settlers  had  not  come  expecting  a  cordial  reception 
from  him,  but  quite  the  contrary;  that  while  he 
had  done  some  things  for  humanity's  sake,  he  had 

""  A  full  summary  will  be  found  in  Vol.  i,  pp.  501-505,  History  of 
Oregon,  Bancroft's  Works. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  93 

intended  to,  and  had  averted  evil  to  the  Company 
by  using  kindness  and  courtesy  towards  the  Amer- 
ican immigrants.  As  to  joining  the  Provisional 
Government  he  showed  the  necessity  and  wisdom 
of  his  actions  under  the  circumstances.  To  the  ac- 
cusation that  the  Company  had  submitted  to  insult, 
he  said:  "They  were  not  to  consider  themselves 
insulted  because  an  ignorant  man  thought  he  had 
a  better  right  than  they  had."  As  to  the  British 
government,  it  had  not  afforded  protection  in  time, 
and  that  it  was  not  the  duty  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  to  defend  Great  Britain's  right  to  terri- 
tory. The  obligation  of  the  Company's  officers, 
whatever  their  feelings  might  be,  was  to  do  their 
duty  to  the  Company.  He  admitted  helping  the 
immigrants  of  1843,  1844,  and  1845,  and  saving  the 
lives  and  property  of  the  destitute  and  sick.  He 
also  admitted  to  assisting  the  immigrants  of  1843 
to  raise  a  crop  for  their  own  support  and  of  saving 
the  Company  from  the  necessity  of  feeding  the 
next  immigration.  And  he  said:  "If  we  had  not 
done  this,  Vancouver  would  have  been  destroyed 
and  the  world  would  have  judged  us  treated  as 
our  inhuman  conduct  deserved;  every  officer  of 
the  Company,  from  the  Governor  down,  would 
have  been  covered  with  obloquy,  the  Company's 
business  in  this  department  would  have  been 
ruined,  and  the  trouble  which  would  have  arisen 
in  consequence  would  have  probably  involved  the 
British  and  American  nations  in  war.  If  I  have 
been  the  means,  by  my  measures,  of  arresting  any 
of  these  evils,  I  shall  be  amply  repaid  by  the  ap- 
probation of  my  conscience.   It  is  true  that  I  have 


94  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

heard  some  say  they  would  have  done  differently; 
and,  if  my  memory  does  not  deceive  me,  I  think  I 
heard  Mr.  Vavasour  say  this;  but  as  explanation 
might  give  publicity  to  my  apprehension  and  ob- 
ject, and  destroy  my  measures,  I  was  silent,  in  the 
full  reliance  that  some  day  justice  would  be  done 
me."  2^ 

The  Governor  and  the  directors  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  apparently  neither  understood 
nor  appreciated  the  conditions  in  Oregon  in  1843, 
and  in  the  immediate  succeeding  years,  or  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  motives  and  humanity  in  assisting 
the  immigrants.  While  the  Governor  in  Chief 
and  these  directors  were  probably  men  of  high 
character,  and,  individually,  men  of  humanity,  as 
representatives  of  this  great  trading  company, 
they  seemed  to  have  considered  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
actions  in  assisting  the  American  immigrants  to 
settle  in  parts  of  the  disputed  Oregon  Country  by 
relieving  their  distresses,  and  saving  them  from 
suffering  and  starvation,  as  amounting  almost  to 
treason  to  his  Country  and  as  being  untrue  and 
false  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  its  inter- 
ests. They  believed  that  he  had  failed  to  carry 
out  its  policies,  if  not  its  express  instructions,  which 
they  felt  he  should  have  followed,  as  the  chief  of 
its  enterprises  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  no 
matter  what  the  circumstances  were  or  what  the 
consequences  might  be.  They  did  not  seem  to 
understand  that,  if  the  early  immigrants  had  not 
been  assisted,  helped,  and  rescued,  as  they  were, 
by  Dr.  McLoughlm,  it  might  have  been  fatal  to 

"  See  Document  R- 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  95 


Fort  Vancouver  and  precipitated  a  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain.    As  has  been 
already  said  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  under 
royal  grant,  had  an  absolute  monopoly  in  trading 
with  the  Indians  in  what  was  called  British  Amer- 
ica, that  is,  northward  and  westward  of  the  United 
States,  excepting  the  British  Provinces  and  also 
excepting  the  Oregon  Country.    In  the  latter  the 
Company  had  the  exclusive  right,  under  said  grant, 
to  trade  with  the  Indians,  but  on  the  condition  that 
it  should  not  be  to  the  prejudice  nor  exclusion  of 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  had  the  right 
to  be  in  the  Oregon  Country  under  the  convention 
of  joint-occupancy.^^     Undoubtedly  the  Govern- 
or in  Chief  and  directors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  had  a  feeling  that  the  Company  and  its 
trade  should  not  be  interfered  with  in  the  Oregon 
Country.    For  more  than  thirty  years  it  and  the 
Northwest  Company,  with  which  it  had  coalesced 
in  1 82 1,  had  had  almost  absolute  control  of  trade 
with  the  Indians  in  nearly  all  of  the  Oregon  Coun- 
try.   Its  practical  monopoly  there  had  been  almost 
as  complete    as    Its    actual  monopoly  in  British 
America.    The  exercise  of  absolute  power  usually 
begets  a  feeling  of  a  right  to  continue  the  exercise 
of  such  power.    The  head-officers  of  the  Company 
resented  the  actions  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  which 
tended  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  to  interfere  with  its  control  of  the 
fur  trade  in  the  Oregon  Country. 

An  Indian  trading  company  is  much  more  like- 
^y  to  be  mercenary  than  humane.    The  headquar- 

**  See  Document  C. 


g6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ters  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  were  at  Lon- 
don. Oregon  was  a  long  distance  from  London. 
Under  the  conditions  it  may  not  be  surprising  that 
greed  of  gain  and  selfish  interests  outweighed  hu- 
manity in  the  minds  of  these  officers  in  charge 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  It  is  true  none  of 
them  were  in  Oregon  when  these  immigrants  came. 
None  of  these  officers  had  ever  been  in  the  Oregon 
Country,  excepting  Sir  George  Simpson,  the  Gov- 
ernor in  Chief.  These  officers  did  not  see  the  dis- 
tresses, the  sufferings,  or  the  perils  of  these  immi- 
grants. Their  information  came  largely  from 
others,  who  were  not  friends  of  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
and  who  did  not  approve  his  actions.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  had  been  for  so  long  a  time  a  Chief 
Factor  of  the  Company;  he  had  been,  up  to  the 
arrival  of  the  immigration  of  1843,  so  faithful  to 
its  policies  and  interests;  he  had  so  increased  its 
trade,  and  added  so  largely  to  its  revenues,  that 
he  could  not  be  summarily  dismissed.  But  he 
was  a  man  of  pride  and  of  high  quality,  and  he 
could  be  forced  to  resign.  This  the  Governor  in 
Chief  and  the  directors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany accomplished.  In  thus  acting  unjustly  to 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  they  were  unconsciously  assist- 
ing to  make  him  the  eternal  hero  of  Oregon.  In 
resigning  Dr.  McLoughlin  gave  up  a  salary  of 
twelve  thousand  dollars  a  year.  He  made  his 
home  at  Oregon  City,  where  he  expected  to  pass 
the  rest  of  his  life,  with  the  intention  of  becoming 
an  American  citizen  as  soon  as  possible.  He  in- 
vested his  wealth  at  Oregon  City  in  various  enter- 
prises in  an  attempt  to  assist  in  upbuilding  Oregon. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  97 

His  resignation  marks  the  beginning  of  his  tribu- 
lations which  ended  only  with  his  death.  The 
details  I  shall  presently  set  forth.  In  assisting  the 
immigrants  Dr.  McLoughlin  did  not  count  the 
cost  nor  fear  the  consequences.  His  humanity  was 
greater  than  his  liking  for  wealth  or  position.  He 
had  no  greed  for  gain,  no  selfishness.  Had  he 
anticipated  the  consequences  I  believe  that  he 
would  not  have  hesitated  nor  acted  otherwise  than 
he  did.  Frances  Fuller  Victor  wrote  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  and  his  tribulations:^*^  "Aristocrat, 
as  he  was  considered  by  the  colonists  [American 
settlers]  and  autocrat  as  he  really  was,  for  twenty 
years  throughout  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  he  still  bravely  returned  the  assaults 
of  his  enemies  in  the  language  of  a  republican. 
He  defended  the  American  character  from  the 
slurs  of  government  spies,  saying,  'they  have  the 
same  right  to  come  that  I  have  to  be  here,'  touch- 
ing lightly  upon  the  ingratitude  of  those  who  for- 
got to  pay  him  their  just  debts,  and  the  rudeness 
of  those,  whom  White  mentions  as  making  him 
blush  for  American  honor.  But  whether  he  fav- 
ored the  Company's  interests  against  the  Britishj 
or  British  interests  against  the  Company's,  or  main- 
tained both  against  the  American  interests,  or  fav- 
ored the  American  interests  against  either,  or 
labored  to  preserve  harmony  between  all,  the  sus- 
picions of  both  conflicting  parties  fell  upon  him, 
and  being  forced  to  maintain  silence  he  had  the 
bad  fortune  to  be  pulled  to  pieces  between  them." 


Vol.  I,  pp.  504,  505,  History  of  Oregon,  Bancroft's  Works. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


Dr.  McLoughiin's  Religion. 

When  an  infant,  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  baptized 
in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  His  father  and 
mother  were  of  that  church.  While  living  with 
the  family  of  his  maternal  grandfather,  he  prob- 
ably was  brought  up  in  the  English  Established 
Church,  of  which  he  became  a  member.  Prior 
to  1841  or  1842,  it  was  his  custom,  at  Fort  Van- 
couver, to  read  the  service  of  that  church  on  Sun- 
days to  the  congregation  of  officers  and  employees 
who  attended.  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  a  broad  man 
in  every  way.  He  recognized  the  good  in  all 
Christian  sects  and  denominations.  He  assisted 
the  Methodist,  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
missionaries.  Had  he  been  a  member  of  those 
churches,  he  could  hardly  have  done  more  for 
them  than  he  did.  While  still  a  Protestant,  he  also 
assisted  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries,  from 
their  first  coming  to  Oregon,  in  1838,  as  he  had  the 
Protestant.  He  never  tried  to  change  the  forms 
of  religion  of  his  employees  and  servants  of  the 
Company.  He  encouraged  them  in  their  devo- 
tion to  the  religions  of  their  choice. 

Archbishop  Francis  Norbert  Blanchet  in  his 
"Historical  Sketches  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
Oregon,"  says  (page  68)  :  "It  is  but  just  to  make 
special  mention  of  the  important  services  which 
Dr.  John  McLoughlin  -  though  not  a  Catholic  - 
has  rendered  to  the  French  Canadians  and  their 
families,  during  the  fourteen  years  he  was  govern- 
or of  Fort  Vancouver.  He  it  was  who  read  to 
them  the  prayers  on  Sunday.  Besides  the  English 
school  kept  for  the  children  of  the  Bourgeois,  he 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  99 

had  a  separate  one  maintained  at  his  own  expense, 
in  which  prayers  and  the  catechism  were  taught  in 
French  to  the  Catholic  women  and  children  on 
Sundays  and  week  days,  by  his  orders.  He  also 
encouraged  the  chant  of  the  canticles,  in  which  he 
was  assisted  by  his  wife  and  daughter,  who  took 
much  pleasure  in  this  exercise.  He  visited  and 
examined  his  school  once  a  week.  .  .  .  He  it 
was  who  saved  the  Catholics  of  the  Fort  and  their 
children  from  the  dangers  of  perversion,  and  who, 
finding  the  log  church  the  Canadians  had  built,  a 
few  miles  below  Fairfield,  in  1836,  not  properly 
located,  ordered  it  to  be  removed,  and  rebuilt  on  a 
large  prairie,  its  present  beautiful  site." 

Dr.  McLoughlin  was  given  charge  of  a  girl  by 
her  dying  father,  who  was  a  Protestant.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  would  not  send  her  to  a  Roman 
Catholic  school.  He  respected  the  religious  faith 
of  the  girl's  father.^*'  There  is  some  question  as  to 
whether  Dr.  McLoughlin  became  a  Roman 
Catholic  in  the  year  1841  or  1842.  In  one  of  those 
years,  Dr.  McLoughlin  read  "The  End  of  Contro- 
versy," written  by  Dr.  Milner,  and  was  converted 
by  this  book  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  and 
joined  that  church.  He  made  his  abjuration  and 
profession  of  faith  and  took  his  first  communion 
at  Fort  Vancouver  in  1841  or  1842.  Joining  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  was 
most  impolitic,  at  this  time,  particularly  on  ac- 
count of  his  land  claim.  But  he  was  not  a  man 
to  consider  policy  when  there  was  something  to  be 

*"  Vol.  I,  p.  31,  History  of  Oregon,  Bancroft's  Works,  from  manu- 
script of  Jesse  Applegate. 


loo  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

done,  which  he  thought  right,  just,  or  proper. 
Otherwise,  he  would  not  have  assisted  the  mission- 
aries nor  helped  the  immigrants.  Joining  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  only  added  to  the  opposi- 
tion to  Dr.  McLoughlin.  He  was  then  a  British 
subject.  At  that  time  there  was  great  prejudice  by 
many  Americans  against  Great  Britain  as  the  sup- 
posed hereditary  enemy  of  the  United  States.  The 
long  discussion  of  the  Oregon  Question;  the  elec- 
tion of  Polk  as  President  in  1844,  largely  on  the 
popular  cry  of  "54-40  or  fight,"  greatly  intensified 
this  feeling.  There  was  also  great  popular  preju- 
dice among  many  of  the  Protestants  of  the  United 
States  against  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  which 
had  been  handed  down  from  the  time  of  the  settle- 
ment of  New  England  and  the  Cromwellian  revo- 
lution in  England.  Locally,  in  Oregon,  a  partial 
success  of  the  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  with 
the  Indians,  where  the  Protestants  had  failed, 
probably  intensified  this  feeling. 

In  these  early  immigrations  were  many  women, 
most  of  whom  were  wives  and  mothers.  There 
were  also  numerous  children  of  all  ages.  There 
were  a  few  births  on  the  way.  When  these  moth- 
ers saw  their  children,  along  the  Columbia  River, 
in  peril,  many  sick  and  almost  famishing;  when 
they  heard  their  children  cry  for  food  and  cloth- 
ing, which  these  mothers  could  not  supply;  and 
when  these  perils  were  removed,  and  these  neces- 
saries were  furnished  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and 
their  sick  children  were  restored  to  health  under 
his  orders  and  directions;  do  you  think  these  Prot- 
estant American  mothers  considered  it  important 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  loi 

that  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  a  Roman  Catholic 
and  a  British  subject?  Or  that  they  were  not 
grateful? 

Dr.  McLoughlin's  Land  Claim. 

I  shall  now  take  up  the  matter  of  Dr.  McLough- 
lin's land  claim  at  Oregon  City.  Many  writers 
and  speakers  have  spoken  of  his  land  claim  being 
taken  from  him,  in  a  loose  way,  as  "unjust  treat- 
ment," or  as  "robbery."  I  shall  briefly  state  the 
facts,  as  I  have  found  them.  The  early  pioneers 
know  these  facts.  They  should  be  known  by  every- 
one in  justice  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  to  his 
memory. 

Prior  to  the  Donation  Land  Law,  there  were  no 
lawful  titles  to  lands  in  Oregon,  except  lands  given 
to  Missions  by  the  law  establishing  the  Territory 
of  Oregon.  The  Donation  Land  Law  was  passed 
by  Congress,  and  was  approved  by  the  President 
September  27,  1850.  Prior  to  the  organization,  in 
1843,  of  the  Oregon  Provisional  Government,  the 
only  law,  or  rule  of  law,  in  Oregon  was  the  Golden 
Rule,  or  rather  a  consensus  of  public  opinion 
among  the  few  settlers  in  Oregon.  When  a  per- 
son settled  on  a  piece  of  land  and  improved  it, 
or  declared  his  intention  to  claim  it,  all  other  set- 
tlers respected  his  possessory  rights.  Each  settler 
thought  that  on  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  line 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  his 
land  claim  would  be  recognized  and  protected, 
which  he  had  thus  claimed  while  there  was  joint- 
occupancy  under  the  Conventions  of  1818  and 
1827. 


I02  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

It  was  in  1829  that  Etienne  Lucier,  one  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company's  servants,  of  whom  I  have 
spoken,  settled  in  the  Willamette  Valley  at  French 
Prairie,  now  in  Marion  County.  Other  servants 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  as  their  terms  of 
service  expired,  and  a  few  Americans,  had  set- 
tled at  or  near  French  Prairie  prior  to  1834,  so  that 
when  the  first  missionaries  came,  there  was  a  thriv- 
ing, although  small,  settlement  near  where  Jason 
and  Daniel  Lee  established  their  first  mission  in 
1834.  This  mission  had  no  title  to  the  land  where 
the  Mission  was  established,  yet  its  rights  were 
recognized  and  respected. 

In  1829  Dr.  McLoughlin  for  himself  took  pos- 
session of  the  land  and  water  power  at  the  falls  of 
the  Willamette  River  on  the  east  side  of  the  river 
at  and  near  what  is  now  Oregon  City.  In  his  land 
claim  was  the  valuable,  but  small,  island  contain- 
ing about  four  or  five  acres  of  available  area  in  low 
water,  and  two  or  three  acres  in  ordinary  high 
water.  It  was  separated  from  the  east  bank  by 
a  part  of  the  river,  in  summer  not  more  than  forty 
feet  wide ;  it  was  situated  near  the  crest  of  the  falls. 
Its  location  made  it  valuable  for  convenient  use  of 
water  power.  This  island  was  afterwards  known 
as  "Governor's  Island,"  but  was  called  "Abernethy 
Island"  in  the  Donation  Land  Law,  and  is  now 
known  by  the  latter  name.  This  island  is  now 
owned  by  the  Portland  General  Electric  Company. 
It  lies  partly  in  the  "Basin"  at  Oregon  City.  On 
it  is  now  erected  a  large  wooden  building  called, 
by  that  Company,  "Station  A."  As  I  have  said, 
in   1825  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  knew  that 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  103 

England  did  not  intend  to  claim  any  part  of  the 
Oregon  Country  south  of  the  Columbia  River,  so 
it  did  not  want  for  itself  any  permanent  or  valu- 
able improvements  in  the  Willamette  Valley. 

In  1829  Dr.  McLoughlin  began  the  erection  of 
a  sawmill  at  the  falls.  He  caused  three  houses  to 
be  erected  and  some  timbers  to  be  squared  for  a 
mill.  This  work  continued  until  May,  1830.  In 
1829  the  Indians  there  burned  these  squared  tim- 
bers. In  1832  he  had  a  mill-race  blasted  out  of 
the  rocks  from  the  head  of  the  island.  It  has  been 
asserted  that  these  improvements  were  made  for 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  but  were  discontinued 
by  it  because  it  did  not  wish  to  erect  valuable  im- 
provements there.  But  in  the  McLoughlin  Docu- 
ment he  says:  "I  had  selected  for  a  claim,  Oregon 
City,  in  1829,  made  improvements  on  it,  and  had 
a  large  quantity  of  timber  squared."  Who  ever 
knew  or  heard  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  telling  a  lie? 
That  he  was  a  man  of  the  highest  honor  and  truth- 
fulness is  established  beyond  all  doubt.  This  claim 
was  taken  by  him  in  the  same  year  that  Lucier  set- 
tled in  the  Willamette  Valley.  It  is  evident  that 
Dr.  McLoughlin  took  this  claim,  for  his  old  age 
and  for  the  benefit  of  himself  and  children.^^  From 
about  1838  until  the  passage  of  the  Donation  Land 
Law  in  1850,  he  openly  and  continuously  asserted 
his  right  to  his  land  claim,  including  Abernethy 
Island.  No  adverse  claim  was  made  until  about 
July,  1840,  less  than  sixty  days  after  the  arrival  of 
the  ship  Lausanne,  when  certain  members  of  the 
Methodist  Mission  began  to  plan  to  take  these 

*^  See  Document  L. 


I04  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

lands  and  rights  from  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and  in  the 
end  succeeded,  but  only  partially  for  themselves. 
Dr.  McLoughlin's  right  to  his  land  claim  was  as 
good  as  that  of  any  other  person  in  Oregon  to  his 
own  land  claim.  April  i,  1843,  Dr.  Elijah  White, 
who  came  to  Oregon  in  1837,  as  a  Methodist  mis- 
sionary, but  was  then  United  States  Sub-Agent  of 
Indian  Affairs,  in  an  official  report  to  the  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs,  at  Washington,  D.  C, 
said  of  the  Shortess  petition,  to  which  I  shall  pres- 
ently refer:  "A  petition  started  from  this  country 
today,  making  bitter  complaints  against  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  and  Governor  McLoughlin. 
On  reference  to  it  (a  copy  was  denied)  I  shall  only 
say,  had  any  gentleman  disconnected  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  been  at  half  the  pains  and 
expense  to  establish  a  claim  on  the  Wallamet 
Falls,  very  few  would  have  raised  any  opposi- 
tion." ^^  Under  the  joint-occupancy  every  British 
subject  had  the  same  or  equal  rights  in  the  Oregon 
Country  that  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  had. 

December  18,  1839,  Senator  Linn  introduced  a 
series  of  resolutions  in  the  United  States  Senate, 
which  were  referred  to  a  select  Committee. 
March  31,  1840,  this  Committee  reported  a  sub- 
stitute. The  chief  feature  was  a  provision  for 
granting  to  each  male  inhabitant  of  Oregon,  over 
eighteen  years  of  age,  one  thousand  acres  of  land. 
December  16,  1841,  Senator  Linn  introduced  his 
famous  bill  thereafter  known  as  the  "Linn  Bill," 
which  granted  six  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land 
to  every  white  male  inhabitant  of  Oregon,  of  eigh- 

**  White's  Ten  Years  in  Oregon,  p.  200. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  105 

teen  years  or  over,  who  should  cultivate  the  same 
for  five  years.  This  bill  was  favorably  reported 
back  to  the  Senate  and  subsequently  passed  the 
Senate,  but  failed  in  the  House.  The  Oregon  Do- 
nation Land  Law  was  largely  based  on  this  bill. 
In  neither  the  Linn  resolution  nor  in  the  Linn  bill 
was  any  difference  made  between  American  citi- 
zens and  British  subjects,  or  other  aliens  as  to  the 
right  to  take  land.  The  Oregon  Donation  Land 
Law  of  September  27,  1850,  applied  to  every  white 
settler  (including  aliens)  over  eighteen  years  of 
age  then  a  resident  of  Oregon,  or  who  should  be- 
come such  a  resident  prior  to  December  i,  1850, 
except  Dr.  McLoughlin.  In  case  of  an  alien  he 
must  either  have  made  his  declaration,  according 
to  law,  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
prior  to  the  passage  of  the  Donation  Land  Law  or 
do  so  prior  to  December  i,  1851.  The  Linn  bill 
was  largely  instrumental  in  causing  the  early  im- 
migrations to  Oregon.  It  was  felt  by  these  immi- 
grants that  it,  or  a  similar  law,  was  bound  to  pass 
Congress.  The  Oregon  Donation  Land  Law  was 
such  a  law.  Dr.  McLoughlin  believed  that  such  a 
bill  was  bound  to  become  a  law. 

The  Methodist  Mission,  as  a  mission,  did  not, 
officially,  attempt  to  deprive  Dr.  McLoughlin  of 
any  of  his  land.  There  were  some  of  the  mission- 
aries who  opposed  any  such  action.  But  others  of 
them  saw  that  if  the  Mission  obtained  any  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  land  claim,  it  would  belong  to  the 
Mission  or  to  the  Church,  so  they  readily  pro- 
ceeded, as  individuals,  for  their  own  private  gain. 
In  1840,  shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  Lausanne, 


io6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Rev.  Jason  Lee,  as  Superintendent  of  the  Metho- 
dist Mission,  appointed  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  to  labor 
for  the  Indians  at  Willamette  Falls  and  vicinity. 
The  Mission  took  up  a  claim  of  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres  north  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  claim.  The 
Mission's  religious  work  was  done  by  Waller  on 
this  claim,  where  Gladstone  Park  is  now  situated, 
and  also  at  a  point  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Willam- 
ette River  opposite  Oregon  City.  At  both  of 
these  places  there  were  a  number  of  Indians.^^  In 
the  summer  of  1840  Waller  was  sent  to  establish 
this  Mission.  Dr.  McLoughlin  generously  assist- 
ed the  undertaking.  He  gave  the  Mission  a  piece 
of  land  in  his  claim  on  which  to  erect  a  mission- 
house;  and,  at  the  request  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Mission,  Dr.  McLoughlin 
loaned  it  some  of  the  timbers,  which  he  had  caused 
to  be  squared,  to  build  the  mission-house.  Timbers 
to  take  the  place  of  those  so  loaned  were  never 
furnished  to  Dr.  McLoughlin,  nor  were  the  tim- 
bers ever  paid  for.^^  It  was  soon  reported  to  Dr. 
McLoughlin  that  the  Methodist  Mission  would 
try  to  take  or  to  jump  his  claim.  He  at  once  (July 
21,  1840)  notified  Jason  Lee,  Superintendent  of 
the  Mission,  of  the  facts:  That  Dr.  McLoughlin 
had  taken  possession  of  this  land  claim  in  1829, 
and  also  of  his  intention  to  hold  this  land  as  a  pri- 
vate claim.  He  gave  Lee  the  general  description 
of  the  land  so  claimed  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  viz: 
"From  the  upper  end  of  the  falls  across  to  the 
Clackamas  river,  and  down  where  the  Clackamas 

'*Rev.  Dr.  H.  K.  Hines,  Missionary  History,  p.  354. 
**  See  Document  L. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  107 

falls  into  the  Willamette,  including  the  whole 
point  of  land,  and  the  small  island  in  the  falls  on 
which  the  portage  was  made."  This  is  the  island 
later  known  as  "Governor's"  or  "Abernethy"  Is- 
land. After  giving  the  notice  mentioned.  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin concluded  his  letter  with  these  words: 
"This  is  not  to  prevent  your  building  the  store, 
as  my  object  is  merely  to  establish  my  claim."  A 
satisfactory  answer  was  returned  and  Waller  pro- 
ceeded in  the  erection  of  the  mission-house,  which 
was  divided  into  two  apartments,  one  of  which 
served  as  a  dwelling,  and  the  other  as  a  storeroom 
for  the  goods  of  the  Mission. ^'^ 

In  1 841  Felix  Hathaway,  in  the  employment  of 
the  Mission,  began  to  build  a  house  on  the  island, 
at  which  Dr.  McLoughlin  remonstrated  with  Wal- 
ler, but  the  latter  assured  Dr.  McLoughlin  that  no 
wrong  was  intended  and  Hathaway  stopped  his 
building  operations.  Matters  ran  smoothly  until 
the  autumn  of  1842.  By  this  time  Dr.  McLough- 
lin had  again  made  improvements  on  his  claim, 
having  it  surveyed  and  part  of  it  laid  off  in  town 
lots  and  blocks,  which  he  named  Oregon  City. 
Some  of  these  lots  and  blocks  he  gave  away,  some 
he  sold.  I  cannot  go  into  all  the  evasive  actions  of 
Waller  and  the  false  statements  and  claims  made 
by  him,  and  by  John  Ricord,  his  attorney,  in  rela- 
tion to  Waller's  supposed  rights  to  Dr.  McLough- 
lin's  land  claim.  Waller  employed  Ricord  as  an  at- 
torney and  asserted  his  ownership  of  all  the 
McLoughlin  land  claim,  except  Abernethy  Island, 

"  Vol.  I,  p.  204,  History  of  Oregon,  Bancroft's  Works.  See  also 
Document   L. 


io8  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

to  which  the  Oregon  Milling  Company  laid  claim. 
A  public  proclamation  signed  by  Ricord  as  at- 
torney for  Waller,  although  dated  December  20, 

1843,  was  publicly  posted  at  Oregon  City  early  in 

1844.  It  set  forth  the  alleged  illegality  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  claim  and  the  imaginary  rights  of 
Waller.^*^  Whatever  possession  Waller  had  of  any 
part  of  this  land  was  due  to  the  kind  permission  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  Waller  attempted  to  turn  this 
kindness  into  a  question  of  right  to  the  whole  land 
claim,  excepting  Abernethy  Island.  An  agreement 
or  settlement,  dated  April  4,  1844,  was  executed 
by  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller,  Rev.  David  Leslie,  acting 
Superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  and  by 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  Under  this  agreement  Dr. 
McLoughlin  was  compelled  to  pay  Waller  five 
hundred  dollars  and  to  convey  to  Waller  eight 
lots  and  three  blocks  in  Oregon  City,  and  also  to 
convey  to  the  Methodist  Mission  six  lots  and  one 
block  in  Oregon  City.  What  right  the  Mission  had 
to  insist  on  the  conveyance  to  it  of  this  land  has 
never  been  explained -Waller,  in  said  agreement 
or  settlement,  surrendering  and  forever  abandon- 
ing to  Dr.  McLoughlin  "all  claims,  rights,  and 
pretensions  whatsoever"  which  Waller  had  to  the 
land  claim  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  which  is  described 
in  said  agreement  as  "a  tract  of  land  situated  at 
the  falls  of  the  Wallamette  River  on  the  east  side 
of  said  River,  containing  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres,  and  surveyed  by  Jesse  Applegate  in  the 
month  of  December,  A.  D.  1843."  This  survey 
included  Abernethy  Island.    There  were  not  then 

*°  This  proclamation  is  set  forth  in  full  in  Document  I. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  109 

any  courts  in  Oregon  to  which  Dr.  McLoughlin 
could  apply  for  relief,  as  he  had  not  then  joined 
the  Provisional  Government.  It  wd.s  probably 
better  and  cheaper  for  him  to  submit  to  this  unfair 
agreement,  otherwise  he  would  have  been  com- 
pelled to  allow  Waller  to  take  the  land  or  to  have 
ousted  him  by  force.^^ 

July  15,  1844,  about  three  months  after  this  set- 
tlement, Rev.  George  Gary,  who  was  then  closing 
the  Methodist  Mission  in  Oregon  and  disposing 
of  its  property,  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  McLoughlin 
offered  to  sell  back  these  lots  and  block  given  to 
the  Mission  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  with  the  im- 
provements thereon,  excluding  the  two  lots  given 
by  Dr.  McLoughlin  in  1840  on  which  the  Metho- 
dist Church  was  built.  Gary  valued  the  lots  to  be 
sold  at  two  thousand,  two  hundred  dollars,  and  the 
improvements  thereon  at  three  thousand,  eight 
hundred  dollars.  Gary  made  the  conditions  that 
the  possession  of  a  warehouse  should  be  reserved 
until  June,  1845,  and  the  house  occupied  by 
George  Abernethy  until  August,  1845.  Gary  made- 
some  other  reservations  and  wrote  that  there  must 
be  an  answer  in  a  day  or  two.  Dr.  McLoughlin 
considered  this  offer  extortionate.  He  wrote  an 
answer  to  Gary  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that 
he  had  so  recently  given  the  lots  to  the  Mission, 
that  it  would  be  the  fairest  way  for  Gary  to  give 
Dr.  McLoughlin  back  the  lots,  since  the  Mission 
had  no  longer  any  use  for  them,  and  let  him  pay 
for  the  improvements;  that  one  of  the  houses  was 
built  with  lumber  borrowed  from  him  and  had 

'^  This  agreement  is  set  forth  in  full  in   Document  J. 


no  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

not  been  paid  for.  He  suggested  that  the  matter 
be  referred  to  the  Missionary  Board.  But  Gary 
rejected  every  proposal.  Dr.  McLoughlin  was 
compelled  to  yield  and  agreed  to  pay  the  six  thou- 
sand dollars  demanded  by  Gary.^^  Notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  this  agreement  executed  by  Wal- 
ler and  Leslie,  dated  April  4,  1844,  was  made  as  a 
final  settlement  of  the  matter,  the  conspirators  de- 
termined to  deprive  Dr.  McLoughlin  of  his  land 
claim,  even  if  they  did  not  profit  by  it.  They  suc- 
ceeded by  means  of  the  Oregon  Donation  Law,  as 
I  shall  presently  show.  These  conspirators  had 
previously  arranged  to  take  or  "jump"  Abernethy 
Island. 

Rev.  Dr.  H.  K.  Hines  was  too  honorable  a  man 
to  justify  these  proceedings.  As  he  came  to  Ore- 
gon in  1853,  it  appears  that  he  did  not  know  all 
the  facts,  but  such  as  he  knew,  even  from  Metho- 
dist missionary  sources,  did  not  commend  Wal- 
ler's actions  to  Hines  in  regard  to  Dr.  McLough- 
lin and  his  land  claim.  In  his  Missionary  History, 
pages  353-355,  Dr.  Hines  says:  "At  Oregon  City 
the  Mission  as  such  deemed  it  wisest  not  to  file  any 
claim  as  against  that  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  Chief 
Factor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at  Vancou- 
ver, who  had  made  some  movements  toward 
the  occupation  of  that  valuable  property  before  the 
Mission  was  established.  Perhaps  all  in  the  coun- 
try at  that  time,  Mr.  Lee  included,  did  not  con- 
sider the  claim  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  as  a  British 


'*  Vol.  I,  p.  253,  History  of  the  Pacific  North<west,  by  Elwood 
Evans;  The  River  of  the  West,  by  Frances  Fuller  Victor,  pp.  360,  361; 
Vol.  I,  pp.  224,  225,  History  of  Oregon,  Bancroft's  Works. 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  iii 

subject  and  the  head  of  a  great  British  corpora- 
tion, such  a  claim  as  would  be  recognized  in  law 
when  the  government  of  the  United  States  should 
extend  its  jurisdiction  over  the  country,  which  they 
believed  it  was  sure  to  do  in  a  short  time.  .  .  . 
The  mission  work  at  this  general  point  was  mostly 
done  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  at  The  Falls, 
and  at  the  villages  on  the  Clackamas  where  'Glad- 
stone Park'  is  now  situated,  and  where  the  Mission 
had  a  farm,  and  a  claim  of  a  square  mile  of  land. 
This  stood  in  exactly  the  same  relation  to  the  Board 
as  did  the  claim  at  The  Dalles  and  at  Salem. 

"It  is  proper  that  we  say  here  that  much  contro- 
versy arose  at  Oregon  City  through  the  fact  that 
Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  filed  a  claim  in  his  own  behalf 
on  the  land  to  which  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  also 
laying  claim,  on  the  ground  that  the  latter,  being 
a  British  subject,  could  not  obtain  title  under  the 
land  laws  of  the  United  States.  With  this  the  Mis- 
sion, as  such,  had  no  connection  whatever,  and 
hence  this  history  does  not  deal  with  the  question." 
Nevertheless,  joint-occupancy,  Senator  Linn's  reso- 
lution and  bill,  the  Donation  Land  Law,  subse- 
quently passed,  natural  justice  and  right,  and  com- 
mon decency  should  have  been  recognized  as  giv- 
ing Dr.  McLoughlin  full  right  to  his  land  claim 
from  the  beginning. 

At  least  three  of  the  Methodist  missionaries  and 
those  connected  with  the  Methodist  Mission  were 
not  citizens  of  the  United  States  at  any  time  prior 
to  the  passage  of  the  Donation  Land  Law  in  1850. 
Rev.  Jason  Lee  was  a  native  of  Canada  and  died 
in  Canada.     He  did  not  become  a  citizen  of  the 


112  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

United  States.  His  allegiance  was  always  that  of 
a  British  subject.  Jason  Lee  was  of  English  de- 
scent. His  parents  were  born  in  the  United  States 
but  settled  at  Stanstead,  Canada,  and  made  it  their 
home  several  years  prior  to  his  birth.  He  was 
born  at  Stanstead  in  1803  and  that  was  his  home 
until  1834,  when  he  came  to  Oregon.  For  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  worked  in  the  pineries  in  the  north 
of  Canada.  In  1826  he  was  "converted"  and 
joined  the  Wesleyan  Church  of  Canada.  In  1827 
he  entered  the  Wesleyan  Academy  at  Wilbraham, 
Massachusetts.  After  attending  that  Academy 
for  a  time,  he  returned  to  his  home  at  Stanstead, 
where  he  stayed  for  several  years,  first  teaching 
school  and  afterwards  becoming  a  preacher  of  the 
Wesleyan  Church  of  Canada.  For  several  years 
he  had  desired  to  be  a  missionary  among  the  In- 
dians and  in  1832  or  1833  offered  his  services  as  a 
missionary  to  the  Indians  of  Canada  to  the  Wes- 
leyan Missionary  Society  of  London.  In  1833, 
while  waiting  a  reply  to  his  application,  he  was 
offered  the  appointment  by  the  New  England  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of 
"Missionary  to  the  Flathead  Indians,"  and  was  ad- 
mitted as  a  member  of  the  latter  Conference.  In 
the  spring  of  1834  he  started  for  Oregon,  which, 
during  the  rest  of  his  life,  was  jointly  occupied 
by  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  subjects  of 
Great  Britain  under  the  Conventions  between 
these  countries.  The  political  status  of  a  resident 
of  Oregon  then  remained  as  it  was  when  he  arrived 
in  Oregon.  It  could  not  be  changed  there  during 
joint-occupancy.     He  died  at  Lake  Memphrema- 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  113 

gog  in  Canada,  March  2,  1845.  His  body  was 
buried  at  Stanstead.  These  facts  I  have  obtained 
mostly  from  Dr.  Hines'  Missionary  History  of  the 
Pacific  Northwest^  and  I  have  verified  them  from 
other  reliable  sources. 

Rev.  Daniel  Lee  v^as  also  born  in  Canada.  Up 
to  the  time  of  his  return  to  the  Eastern  States  in 
1843,  he  had  not  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States.  As  the  rest  of  his  life  was  spent  as  a  Metho- 
dist minister  in  the  United  States,  he  probably  be- 
came a  citizen  of  the  latter  country.  Rev.  Daniel 
Lee,  I  believe,  took  no  part  in,  nor  did  he  encour- 
age, or  sympathize  with  any  action  against  Dr. 
McLoughlin. 

Joseph  Holman  (not  a  relative  of  mine)  was 
born  in  England,  August  20,  1815.  In  1833  he 
went  to  Canada  where  he  lived  for  several  years. 
About  1836  or  1837  he  went  to  Ohio  and  later  went 
to  Illinois.  In  1839  he  started  for  Oregon.  He 
arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  June  i,  1840,  the  same 
day  the  Lausanne  arrived  there.  In  1840  or  1841 
he  became  connected  with  the  Methodist  Mission. 
Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  took  up  a  land  claim 
a  mile  square  near  the  present  city  of  Salem.  A 
person  could  not  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  until  he  had  resided  therein  for  at  least  five 
years.  So  he  could  not  become  such  a  citizen  in 
the  East  for  he  had  not  resided  in  the  United  States 
more  than  three  years  when  he  started  for  Oregon 
in  1839.  It  was  in  Oregon,  after  the  United  States 
Courts  were  established  in  1849,  that  Joseph  Hol- 
man first  made  application  to  become  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States  and  became  one.    As  Jason  Lee 


114  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

and  Daniel  Lee  took  up  the  land  on  which  the 
Methodist  Mission  was  situated  and  they  were 
British  subjects,  their  rights  as  land  claimants 
were  the  same  as  those  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  The 
Mission,  as  such,  had  no  legal  status  to  acquire 
land  prior  to  the  Act  of  1848  organizing  Oregon 
Territory.  The  land  claim  of  Joseph  Holman 
had  the  same  status  as  that  of  Dr.  McLoughlin 
-  just  as  good,  but  no  better. 

Abernethy  Island. 

I  have  spoken  of  this  settlement  with  Waller, 
in  1844,  in  order  to  treat  separately  of  the  taking 
of  Abernethy  Island  from  Dr.  McLoughlin.  The 
land  controlling  the  water-power  on  the  west  side 
of  the  falls  of  the  Willamette  River  was  not  taken 
nor  claimed  by  any  one  until  after  the  year  1841. 
It  is  on  the  west  side  where  the  water-power  of  the 
falls  is  now  mostly  used.  It  could  have  been  had 
for  the  taking  at  the  time  Abernethy  Island  was 
"jumped."  Dr.  McLoughlin's  land  claim  was  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river.  As  I  have  said,  Felix 
Hathaway,  in  the  employment  of  the  Mission,  in 
1841  began  to  build  a  house  on  Abernethy  Island, 
but  after  Dr.  McLoughlin's  remonstrance  to  Wal- 
ler, the  building  operations  on  the  island  ceased 
at  that  time.  Dr.  McLoughlin  erected  a  small 
house  on  the  island.  In  1841  the  Oregon  Milling 
Company  was  formed.  Almost  all  of  its  members 
belonged  to  the  Methodist  Mission.  Hathaway 
conveyed  all  his  right  and  title  to  the  island  to  the 
Oregon  Milling  Company,  a  part  of  the  consid- 
eration to  be  paid  by  a  Committee  of  the  Oregon 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  115 

Milling  Company  in  behalf  of  that  Company. 
Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  is  the  one  first  named,  of  the 
Committee,  in  the  deed.  This  deed  is  recorded 
at  page  52  of  Book  2,  Record  of  Deeds  of  Clacka- 
mas County.  This  record  shows  the  date  of  the 
deed  as  November  23,  1852.  This  is  evidently  an 
error  of  the  copyist,  as  to  the  year.  It  doubtless 
was  1842,  for  Hathaway,  by  the  deed,  conveyed 
all  his  "right  and  title  to  the  island  on  which  said 
Company  are  now  constructing  mills,^^  etc.  This 
is  a  very  religious  deed.  Hathaway  in  this  con- 
veyance covenanted  to  warrant  and  defend  the  is- 
land against  all  persons  "(the  Lord  excepted)." 
Among  the  cargo  of  the  Lausanne,  which  all 
belonged  to  the  Methodist  Mission,  was  machin- 
ery for  flour-mills  and  for  saw-mills.  The  Metho- 
dist Mission  established  both  a  saw-mill  and  a 
grist-mill,  run  by  water-power,  near  Chemekete 
(now  Salem).  These  were  in  operation  in  1841. 
These  mills  were  much  nearer  the  Willamette  set- 
tlements than  Oregon  City  was.  In  the  Fall  of 
1842  the  Oregon  Milling  Company  had  erected 
a  saw-mill  on  the  island,  intending  to  follow  it 
with  the  erection  of  a  flour-mill.  It  will  be  noted 
that  there  were  then  no  courts  in  Oregon,  for  the 
Provisional  Government  was  not  organized  until 
1843.  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  were  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Provisional  Government  until  1845.  In  the  fall  of 
1842  Dr.  McLoughlin  became  satisfied  that  it  was 
the  intention  of  some  of  the  Methodist  missionaries 
to  take  his  land  and  to  deprive  him  of  his  water 
rights.    To  save  his  interests  he  forthwith  built  a 


ii6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

saw-mill  on  the  river  bank  near  the  island,  and 
gave  notice  that  he  would  erect  a  flour-mill  in  a 
short  time. 

The  Shortess  Petition. 

The  enemies  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  then  deter- 
mined to  send  a  petition  to  Congress.  It  is  said 
that  this  petition  was  drawn  by  George  Abernethy, 
who  then,  as  steward  of  the  Mission,  kept  its  store 
at  Oregon  City,  and  had  charge  of  all  its  secular 
affairs,  but  that  Abernethy  was  unwilling  to  have 
it  known  that  he  was  connected  with  the  petition, 
so  it  was  copied  by  a  clerk,  named  Albert  E.  Wil- 
son. Abernethy  wished  to  appear  friendly  to  Dr. 
McLoughlin;  to  act  otherwise  might  hurt  the 
Mission  and  Abernethy  in  his  business. ^^  The  first 
signature  to  this  petition  was  that  of  Robert  Short- 
ess,  who  arrived  in  the  Willamette  Valley  in  April, 

1840.  He  joined  the   Methodist  Church   about 

1 841.  He  was  then  intense  in  his  dislike  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  its  officers.  From  the 
fact  that  he  was  the  first  signer,  this  petition  is 
known  as  the  "Shortess  petition."  It  was  signed 
by  sixty-five  persons.  Of  these  about  one-third 
were  immigrants  of  1842,  who  had  been  in  the 
country  less  than  six  months.  This  petition  is  ad- 
dressed to  Congress.  It  is  dated  March  25,  1843. 
It  begins  with  a  short  statement  that  the  petitioners 
have  no  laws  to  govern  them.  That  "where  the 
highest  court  of  appeal  is  the  rifle,  safety  in  life 
and  property  cannot  be  depended  on."    Until  these 


'*  Vol.  I,  p.  207,  History  of  Oregon,  Bancroft's  Works;  Vol.  i, 
p.  243,  Elwood  Evans's  History  of  the  Pacific  Northivest.  See  also  Doc- 
ument H. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  117 

people  attempted  unfairly  to  take  Dr.  McLough- 
lin's  land,  the  Golden  Rule  had  prevailed  and  the 
appeal  to  the  rifle  was  always  "conspicuous  by  its 
absence."  This  petition  then  calls  attention  to  the 
domination  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and 
its  successful  opposition  to  Bonneville  and  Wyeth, 
and  that  that  Company  formerly  would  not  sell 
cattle,  and  its  opposition  to  the  loan  of  cows  and 
the  return  of  the  increase,  which  is  true;  and  that 
in  case  of  the  death  of  a  cow,  the  settler  had  to  pay 
-which  is  false. 

This  petition  further  sets  forth  that  in  1842  the 
settlers  formed  a  company  for  supplying  lumber 
and  flour.  That  they  selected  an  island  at  the  falls 
of  the  Willamette.  That  after  commencing  they 
were  informed  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  that  the  land 
was  his.  This  is  true,  as  to  the  company  and  the 
information  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  but  false,  by  in- 
direction, in  this,  that  they  knew  the  island  for 
years  had  been  claimed  by  him  as  his  property. 
The  petition  proceeds,  "However,  he  erected  a 
shed  on  the  island,  after  the  stuff  was  on  the  island 
to  build  a  house,  and  then  gave  them  permission  to 
build  under  certain  restrictions.  They  took  the 
paper  he  wrote  them  containing  his  conditions,  but 
did  not  obligate  themselves  to  comply  with  the 
conditions,  as  they  did  not  think  his  claim  just  or 
reasonable."  In  the  latter  statement  the  members 
of  the  Oregon  Milling  Company,  who  signed  the 
petition,  stated  an  estoppel  to  themselves.  They 
could  not  enter  into  possession  under  conditions 
and  then  refuse  to  abide  by  them.  This  was  plead- 
ing themselves  out  of  Court,  not  to  mention  their 
admitted  breach  of  faith. 


ii8  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

This  petition  then  mentions  the  erection  of  the 
saw-mill  by  the  Oregon  Milling  Company  and 
complains  of  the  erection  of  a  mill  by  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin, and  says  that  he  can  manufacture  lum- 
ber cheaper  than  the  Milling  Company  can. 
Nevertheless,  the  Oregon  Milling  Company  suc- 
ceeded. This  petition  then  goes  into  puerility 
about  the  measurement  of  wheat  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  which  Dr.  White  in  his  report, 
dated  April  i,  1843,  ^^  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
AfTfairs,  and  hereinbefore  referred  to,  says  is  un- 
true, for  he  knows  the  measure  to  be  exact.  This 
petition  does  not  state  (which  is  true)  that  when 
Dr.  McLoughlin  found  that  wheat  weighed  more 
than  sixty  pounds  to  the  bushel,  he  raised  the  price 
paid  to  settlers,  correspondingly.  This  petition 
sets  forth,  however,  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  sur- 
veyed his  claim,  platted  it,  and  called  it  Oregon 
City;  and  that  he  had  given  a  notice  dated  January 
18,  1843,  requiring  all  persons  claiming  lots  on 
his  land,  before  February  i,  1843,  to  apply  for  a 
deed,  or  a  bond  for  a  deed,  as  the  case  might  be, 
which  he  would  give.  Dr.  McLoughlin  required 
a  payment  of  five  dollars  to  his  attorney  for  mak- 
ing the  deed  or  bond.  As  these  people  were  all 
trespassers,  it  would  seem  that  this  action  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  was  a  very  generous  one. 

There  is  a  very  significant  phrase  in  the  Shortess 
petition,  which  indicates  that  the  conspiracy  to  de- 
prive Dr.  McLoughlin  of  his  land  claim  had  its 
inception  before  that  time.  In  this  petition,  after 
saying  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  did  not  own  his  Ore- 
gon City  land  claim,  it  is  said  "and  which  we  hope 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  119 

he  never  will  own."  This  phrase  is  omitted  in  the 
copy  of  the  Shortess  petition  in  Gray's  History  of 
Oregon  and  in  Brown's  Political  History  of  Ore- 
gon^^  This  phrase  is  referred  to  in  Thurston's 
speech  of  December  26,  1850,  as  justifying  his  ac- 
tions in  giving  Dr.  McLoughlin's  land  claim  to 
Oregon  for  an  university/^  I  shall  not  discuss  some 
of  the  allegations  of  this  petition,  as  they  are  trivial 
and  unimportant.  This  petition  was  given  to 
W.  C.  Sutton  to  be  taken  to  Washington.  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin applied  to  Shortess  for  a  copy  of  this 
petition,  but  the  request  was  refused. 

Land  Laws  of  the  Provisional  Government. 

As  I  have  stated,  in  July,  1843,  the  Provisional 
Government  went  into  effect.  Its  land  laws  were 
purposely  framed  against  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
claim,  and  in  favor  of  the  Methodist  Mission. 
These  land  laws  allowed  any  person,  without  re- 
gard to  citizenship,  who  was  then  holding  or 
wished  to  establish  a  land  claim  in  Oregon,  not 
exceeding  640  acres,  "in  a  square  or  oblong  form, 
according  to  the  natural  situation  of  the  premises," 
to  have  such  land  claim.  Those  in  possession  were 
allowed  one  year  in  which  to  file  a  description  of 
the  claim  in  the  Recorder's  office.  Dr.  McLough- 
lin filed  his  description  in  1843.  The  survey  was 
made  by  Jesse  Applegate  in  1843.  The  record  is 
now  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Salem, 
Oregon.     In  having  this  survey  made  Dr.  Mc- 

*"  See  Document  H,  which  is  a  true  copy  of  all  the  Shortess  peti- 
tion as  printed  in  1844  by  order  of  the  United  States  Senate. 

*^  See  Document  N. 


I20  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Loughlin  had  it  extend  only  about  half  way  from 
the  falls  to  the  Clackamas  River  and  so  as  to  in- 
clude not  more  than  six  hundred  and  forty  acres. 
He  abandoned  that  part  of  his  original  claim  ex- 
tending between  his  new  north  line  and  the  Clack- 
amas River. 

Article  4  of  these  land  laws  of  1843  was  the  one 
intended  to  deprive  Dr.  McLoughlin  of  his  claim. 
It  was  as  follows:  "Art.  4.  No  person  shall  be  en- 
titled to  hold  such  a  claim  upon  city  or  town  sites, 
extensive  water  privileges,  or  other  situations  nec- 
essary for  the  transaction  of  mercantile  or  manu- 
facturing operations,  to  the  detriment  of  the  com- 
munity: Provided,  that  nothing  in  these  laws  shall 
be  so  construed  as  to  effect  any  claim  of  any  mis- 
sion of  a  religious  character,  made  previous  to  this 
time,  of  an  extent  of  not  more  than  six  miles 
square.''^  This  land  law  was  amended  in  July, 
1845.  The  only  material  change,  so  far  as  is  neces- 
sary for  the  purposes  of  this  monograph,  was  that 
said  Section  4  of  the  land  laws  of  1843  was  re- 
pealed. It  was  after  the  repeal  of  the  objection- 
able and  unfair  Section  4  of  the  land  laws  of  1843 
that  Dr.  McLoughlin  for  himself  and  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  joined  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment. 

Dr.  McLoughlin's  Naturalization. 

After  Dr.  McLoughlin  sent  his  resignation  to 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  1845,  he  deter- 
mined to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  In 
1845  he  consulted  with  Peter  H.  Burnett,  then 
Chief-Justice  of  the  Provisional  Government,  and 
with  Jesse  Applegate,  about  taking  the  oath  of  al- 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  121 

legiance  to  the  United  States,  and  taking  out  his 
first  naturalization   papers,   but   Burnett  had   no 
authority  from  the  United  States,  or  other  juris- 
diction, to  administer  such  an  oath   (or  to  issue 
such  papers)    and  so  advised  Dr.   McLoughlin. 
Although  this  matter  was  well  known  in  Oregon, 
it  gave  Dr.  McLoughlin's  enemies  a  chance  to  say 
that  he  was  a  British  subject,  and  had  not  taken 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  nor 
applied  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 
August  14,  1848,  the  bill  establishing  the  Territory 
of  Oregon  became  a  law.    March  2,  1849,  General 
Joseph   Lane,   the   first  Territorial   Governor  of 
Oregon,  arrived  at  Oregon  City.     March  3,  1849, 
he   issued  his   proclamation   assuming  charge   as 
governor.     Soon   after  the  Territory  of  Oregon 
was  organized  and  courts  of  the  United   States 
established.    The  assignment  of  Judges  to  their  re- 
spective districts  was  made  May  13,  1849.     May 
30,  1849,  Dr.  McLoughlin  took  the  oath  and  made 
his  declaration  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  as  required  by  the  naturalization  law.    So 
he  acted  with  promptness.  This  was  well  known  in 
Oregon  at  the  time.     Dr.  McLoughlin  voted  at 
Oregon  City  at  the  first  general  election  held  in 
June,  1849,  but  he  did  not  vote  for  Thurston  as 
delegate    to    Congress,    which    Thurston    knew. 
Under  the  act  of  Congress,  organizing  Oregon  as 
a  territory,  all  aliens  who  had  declared,  on  oath, 
their  intentions  to  become  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  taken  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  and  the  provisions  of  the 
act   establishing   the   Territorial    Government   of 
Oregon,  were  entitled  to  vote  at  the  first  election. 


122  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Dr.  McLoughlin  became  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  at  Oregon  City,  September  5,  1851.  The 
naturalization  law  then  allowed  an  alien  to  be- 
come a  citizen  of  the  United  States  two  years  after 
taking  the  oath  and  making  his  declaration,  if  he 
had  lived  in  the  United  States  for  five  years.  His 
witnesses  were  A.  L.  Lovejoy,  A.  A.  Skinner,  and 
Theodore  Magruder.  His  admission  to  citizen- 
ship was  based  on  his  said  oath  and  declaration  of 
May  30,  1849. 

Conspiracy  against  Dr.  McLoughlin. 

It  was  in  1849  that  the  conspiracy  against  Dr. 
McLoughlin  and  his  land  claim  began  to  become 
effective.  In  1846  Governor  Abernethy  became 
the  sole  owner  of  the  Oregon  Milling  Company 
and  its  property  on  Abernethy  Island,  Abernethy 
and  his  son  claiming  to  own  the  island,  which  was 
then  known  as  "Governor's  Island,"  in  supposed 
compliment  to  Governor  Abernethy.  W.  P.  Bry- 
ant, the  first  Territorial  Chief-Justice  of  Oregon, 
arrived  in  Oregon  April  9,  1849.  May  29,  1849, 
fifty  days  after  his  arrival  he  purchased  all  said  in- 
terests of  Gov.  Abernethy  and  son.  Bryant  gave 
his  promissory  notes  to  Gov.  Abernethy,  aggre- 
gating $30,000  in  principal,  as  part  consideration 
for  the  purchase.  Bryant  also  bought  from  Gov. 
Abernethy,  on  time,  wheat,  flour,  and  staves  for 
about  $2500  and  a  quantity  of  lumber  and  logs, 
the  value  of  which  I  am  unable  to  give.  Bryant's 
judicial  district  included  Oregon  City."*^ 

In  June,  1849,  Samuel  R.  Thurston  was  elected 

*'  See  Document  K. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  123 

Territorial  Delegate  to  Congress  from  Oregon. 
He  arrived  in  Oregon  in  the  fall  of  1847.  He  was 
shrewd  enough  to  obtain  the  support  of  the  Mis- 
sion Party.  He  skillfully  made  his  canvass  largely 
against  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Having  the 
support  of  the  Mission  Party,  and  many  of  the 
voters  being  then  in  the  California  mines,  Thurs- 
ton was  elected.  The  vote  was  as  follows :  Thurs- 
ton, 470;  Columbus  Lancaster,  321;  J.  W.  Ne- 
smith,  106;  Joseph  L.  Meek,  40;  and  J.  S.  Griffin, 
8.  The  most  important  measure  for  Oregon  was 
the  passage  of  a  land  law,  for  no  person  had  or 
could  then  obtain  a  legal  title  to  land.  It  was  all 
owned  by  the  United  States  except  the  small  por- 
tions granted  to  the  Missions.  Thurston  used  his 
best  endeavors  to  obtain  the  passage  of  such  a  bill. 
But  he  was  anxious  for  re-election  and  to  ingrati- 
ate himself  with  the  Mission  Party  and  the  con- 
spirators against  Dr.  McLoughlin. 

Thurston's  Letter  to  Congress. 

Thurston  prepared  the  way,  by  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
for  introducing  into  the  land  bill  a  section  depriv- 
ing Dr.  McLoughlin  of  his  Oregon  City  claim. 
This  letter  contains  many  false  statements.  This 
section  is  section  eleven  of  the  Donation  Land 
Law,  which  was  passed  without  opposition.  To 
this  section  I  shall  presently  refer. 

This  letter  to  the  members  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives was  issued  by  Thurston  at  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  in  the  month  of  May  or  the  early  part 
of  June,  1850.     Said  letter  was  published  in  full 


124  J^^-  John  McLoughlin 

in  the  Oregon  Spectator  of  September  12,  1850. 
Nothing  was  known  in  Oregon  or  California  of 
this  letter  until  late  in  August  or  early  in  Septem- 
ber, 1850.  As  this  letter  is  quite  long  and  relates 
mostly  to  the  general  features  of  the  Oregon  Do- 
nation Land  Bill  and  the  necessity  of  its  passage, 
I  have  omitted  all  that  part  of  the  letter  excepting 
Thurston's  discussion  of  the  eleventh  section  of 
that  bill,  which  contains  all  that  part  of  the  letter 
referring  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  his  land  claim. 
In  that  part  of  his  letter  Thurston  said: 

"I  will  next  call  your  attention  to  the  eleventh 
section  of  the  bill,  reserving  the  town  site  of  Ore- 
gon City,  known  as  the  'Oregon  City  Claim.'  The 
capital  of  our  Territory  is  located  here  (Oregon 
City)  and  here  is  the  county  seat  of  Clackamas 
County.  It  is  unquestionably  the  finest  water 
power  in  the  known  world ;  and  as  it  is  now,  so  will 
remain,  the  great  inland  business  point  for  the  Ter- 
ritory. This  claim  has  been  wrongfully  wrested  by 
Dr.  McLoughlin  from  American  citizens.  The 
Methodist  Mission  first  took  the  claim,  with  the 
view  of  establishing  here  their  mills  and  Mission. 
They  were  forced  to  leave  it  under  the  fear  of  hav- 
ing the  savages  of  Oregon  let  loose  upon  them; 
and,  successively,  a  number  of  citizens  of  our  Coun- 
try have  been  driven  from  it,  while  Dr.  McLough- 
lin was  yet  at  the  head  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Having  at  his 
command  the  Indians  of  the  country,  he  has  held  it 
by  violence  and  dint  of  threats  up  to  this  time.  He 
had  sold  lots  up  to  the  4th  of  March,  1849,  worth 
$200,000.     He  also  has  upon  it  a  flouring  mill, 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  125 

graineries,  two  double  sawmills,  a  large  number  of 
houses,  stores,  and  other  buildings,  to  which  he 
may  be  entitled  by  virtue  of  his  possessory  rights, 
under  the  treaty  of  1846.  For  only  a  part  of  these 
improvements  which  he  may  thus  hold,  he  has  been 
urged  during  the  past  year  to  take  $250,000.  He 
will  already  have  made  a  half  million  out  of  that 
claim.  He  is  still  an  Englishman,  still  connected 
in  interest  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and 
still  refuses  to  file  his  intentions  to  become  an 
American  citizen,  and  assigns  as  a  reason  to  the 
Supreme  Judge  of  the  Territory,  that  he  cannot  do 
it  without  prejudicing  his  standing  in  England. 
Last  summer,  he  informed  the  writer  of  this,  that 
whatever  was  made  out  of  this  claim  was  to  go  into 
the  common  fund  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
of  which  he  and  other  stockholders  would  share  in 
proportion  to  their  stock;  in  other  words,  that  he 
was  holding  the  claim  for  the  benefit  of  the  Com- 
pany. Now,  the  bill  proposes  to  reserve  this 
claim ;  subject  to  whatever  right  he  may  have  to  it, 
or  any  part  of  it,  by  virtue  of  the  treaty;  and  con- 
firms the  title  of  all  lots  sold  or  donated  by  him 
previous  to  March  4th,  1849.  This  is  designed  to 
prevent  litigation.  That  day  is  fixed  on,  because, 
on  that  day,  in  Oregon  City,  Governor  Lane  took 
possession  of  the  Territory,  declaring  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  in  force,  and  apprising  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin and  all  others,  that  no  one  had  a  right  to 
sell  or  meddle  with  the  Government  lands.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  ought  to  have  been  made  to  pay  back 
the  $200,000,  but  not  wishing  to  create  any  litiga- 
tion, the  committee  concluded  to  quiet  the  whole 


126  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

matter  by  confirming  the  lots.  Having  in  this  way 
made  $200,000,  and  his  possessory  rights,  if  it 
shall  turn  out  that  he  lawfully  acquired  any,  being 
worth  $200,000  more,  the  people  of  Oregon  think 
our  bounty  is  sufficient  to  this  man,  who  has 
worked  diligently  to  break  down  the  settlements 
ever  since  they  commenced;  and  they  ask  you  to 
save  their  capital,  their  county  seat,  and  the  bal- 
ance of  that  noble  water  power  from  the  grasp  of 
this  British  propagandist,  and  bestow  it  on  the 
young  American  generation  in  Oregon,  in  the 
shape  of  education,  upon  which  you  and  the  whole 
Country  are  to  rely  and  to  defend  and  protect  the 
western  outposts  of  this  glorious  Union.  The  chil- 
dren of  my  Country  are  looking  up  to  you  with 
countenances  flashing  eloquence,  clamoring  to  be 
educated,  and  asking  you,  in  simple  but  feeling 
language,  where  your  charity  begins.  They  call 
you  'fathers,'  and  ask  you  whether  you  will  put  the 
moral  weapons  of  defence  in  your  children's 
hands  in  the  shape  of  education,  or  whether  you 
will  deny  it  to  them,  and  put  means  into  the  hands 
of  him  who  will  turn  and  rend  both  you  and  them. 
They  do  not  doubt  your  decision,  nor  do  I. 

"When  the  Methodist  Missionaries  were  driven 
from  this  claim,  they  went  on  the  island  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  river,  and  constructed  mills  and  made 
other  improvements.  This  island  is  known  as  the 
Abernethy  Island,  and  is  of  no  value,  except  for 
the  improvements  upon  it.  It  consists  of  about 
two  acres  of  barren  rock.  This  island  was  subse- 
quently sold  to  George  Abernethy,  and  the  bill 
ought  to  confirm  the  same  to  Abernethy  or  his  as- 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  127 

signs.  -  This  is  a  simple  act  of  justice  to  American 
citizens,  who  now  have  their  mills  and  property 
staked  on  those  rocks,  and  which,  for  a  long  time, 
stood  the  only  mills  in  the  valley,  where  an  Ameri- 
can could  get  any  grain  ground  for  toll.  They  are 
now,  with  the  exception  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
mills,  nearly  the  only  mills  in  the  whole  country 
left  standing  by  the  late  freshet,  and  they  have 
been  very  materially  injured.  They  must  be  re- 
paired at  vast  expense,  and  if  they  are  not,  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin will  hold,  as  he  has  heretofore  held,  the 
bread  of  the  people  of  the  Territory  in  his  own 
fist.  Your  brethren  ask  you  to  confirm  their  title 
to  those  rocks,  that  their  property  may  stand  there 
in  safety.  They  doubt  not  your  decision.  Hence 
there  should  be  an  amendment  in  the  bill  to  this 
effect." 

It  is  not  true,  as  asserted  by  Thurston,  that  the 
Methodist  Mission  first  took  the  "Oregon  City 
claim."  It  was  first  taken  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  as  I 
have  shown.  If  the  Methodist  Mission  ever  took, 
or  had  any  interest  in  this  land  claim,  it  was 
through  a  secret  agreement  or  understanding  with 
Waller,  or  with  the  Oregon  Milling  Company, 
excepting  only  the  lots  given  to  the  Mission  by  Dr. 
McLoughlin  in  1840  and  those  secured  by  the 
Mission  under  the  Articles  of  Agreement,  dated 
April  4,  1844.^^  Most  of  the  statements,  in  the 
parts  of  this  letter  just  quoted,  Thurston  knew 
were  false. 

Thurston  also  succeeded  in  having  a  proviso 
added  to  the  fourth  section  of  the  bill,  skillfully 

*'  Set  forth  in  Document  J. 


128  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

worded,  which  forbade  anyone  claiming  under  th^ 
Donation  Land  Law  to  claim  both  under  that  law 
and  under  the  treaty  of  1846,  that  treaty  providing 
that  possessory  rights  of  British  subjects  should  be 
respected.  As  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  declared,  in 
1849,  his  intentions  to  become  a  citizen  and  re- 
nounced his  allegiance  to  Great  Britain,  he  prob- 
ably was  no  longer  qualified  to  claim  under  the 
treaty.  But  even  if  he  could  have  claimed  under 
the  treaty  of  1846,  as  a  British  subject,  that  would 
not  have  given  him  a  right  to  obtain  title  to  his 
land  claim  under  that  treaty.  It  was  afterwards 
held  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Oregon,  in  the  case 
of  Cowenia  v.  Hannah,  3  Oregon,  465,  and  by 
Judge  M.  P.  Deady,  sitting  as  United  States  Cir- 
cuit Judge,  in  the  case  of  Town  v.  De  Haven,  5 
Sawyer,  146,  that  the  stipulation  in  the  treaty  of 
1846  that  the  United  States  would  respect  the  pos- 
sessory rights  of  British  subjects,  was  merely  a 
recognition  of  such  possessory  rights  and  conferred 
no  right  to,  or  in  the  land,  and  that  no  means 
were  provided  by  the  Donation  Land  Law,  or 
otherwise,  to  obtain  title  or  a  patent,  but  a  British 
subject  might  have  a  claim  against  the  United 
States  for  compensation;  that  a  claim  to  land, 
under  the  treaty,  was  to  be  excluded  from  any 
rights  under  the  Donation  Land  Law,  and  a  claim 
to  land,  under  that  law,  was  a  surrender  of  posses- 
sory rights  under  the  treaty.  Unquestionably  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Oregon  and  Judge  Deady  were 
right  in  their  construction  of  the  law,  as  they  found 
it,  as  applicable  to  the  points  involved  in  those 
cases. 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  129 

Article  III  of  the  Boundary  Treaty  of  1846  is 
as  follows:  "In  the  future  appropriation  of  the 
territory  south  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  north 
latitude,  as  provided  in  the  first  article  of  this 
treaty,  the  possessory  rights  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  of  all  British  subjects  who  may  be 
already  in  the  occupation  of  land  or  other  property 
lawfully  acquired  within  the  said  territory,  shall 
be  respected."  Good  faith,  and  to  carry  out  the 
letter  and  the  spirit  of  this  Article  III,  should 
have  caused  Congress  to  respect  these  possessory 
rights  of  British  subjects,  so  as  to  make  them  effec- 
tive, and  especially  as  they  had  acquired  these 
rights  under  the  Conventions  for  joint-occupancy 
of  the  Oregon  Country.  Means  should  have  been 
provided  in  the  Donation  Land  Law  by  which 
such  British  subjects  "already  in  the  occupation 
of  land"  in  Oregon  could  have  acquired  the  title 
thereto. 

In  the  debate  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
May  28,  1850,  on  the  bill  which  became  the  Ore- 
gon Donation  Land  Law,  Thurston  said:''^ 
"This  company  [Hudson's  Bay  Company] 
has  been  warring  against  our  government  for  these 
forty  years.  Dr.  McLoughlin  has  been  their  chief 
fugleman,  first  to  cheat  our  government  out  of  the 
whole  country,  and  next  to  prevent  its  settlement. 
He  has  driven  men  from  claims  and  from  the  coun- 
try, to  stifle  the  efforts  at  settlement.  In  1845,  he 
sent  an  express  to  Fort  Hall,  800  miles,  to  warn  the 
American  emigrants  that  if  they  attempted  to  come 

**  Congressional  Globe,  Vol.  21,  Part  Second,  p.  1079,  first  Ses- 
sion of  31st  Congress. 


130  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

to  Willamette  they  would  all  be  cut  off;  they 
went,  and  none  were  cut  off.  How,  sir,  would  you 
reward  Benedict  Arnold,  were  he  living?  He 
fought  the  battles  of  the  country,  yet  by  one  act  of 
treason  forfeited  the  respect  of  that  country.  A 
bill  for  his  relief  would  fail,  I  am  sure;  yet  this' 
bill  proposes  to  reward  those  who  are  now,  have 
been,  and  ever  will  be,  more  hostile  to  our  country 
-  more  dangerous,  because  more  hidden,  more 
Jesuitical.  I  can  refer  you  to  the  Supreme  Judge 
of  our  territory,  for  proof  that  this  Dr.  McLough- 
lin refuses  to  file  his  intention  to  become  an  Amer- 
ican citizen."  Judge  Bryant  was  then  in  Washing- 
ton, lobbying  for  the  passage  of  the  eleventh  sec- 
tion of  the  Donation  Land  Law,  particularly  the 
part  giving  Abernethy's  Island  to  the  assigns  of 
the  Milling  Company.  I  have  already  shown  the 
falsity  of  these  statements  of  Thurston  in  his  letter 
and  in  this  speech,  by  setting  forth  the  truth  in 
this  monograph.  The  mention  by  Thurston,  in  his 
speech,  of  Benedict  Arnold  in  comparison  with 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  was  contemptible.  It  was  an  in- 
sinuation which  Thurston  should  have  been 
ashamed  to  make. 

On  September  12,  1850,  Dr.  McLoughlin  pub- 
lished in  the  Oregon  Spectator  his  answer  to  some 
of  the  statements,  or  rather  misstatements,  in 
Thurston's  speech  in  Congress,  May  28,  1850,  and 
in  his  letter  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  there  said:  "What  Mr.  Thurston 
means  by  'warring  against  our  government  for 
these  forty  years,'  I  know  not.  I  am  certain,  how- 
ever, that  the  H.  B.  Co.  had  a  right  to  carry  on 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  131 

trade  under  the  treaty  of  joint-occupation  of  the 
country  -  even  were  we  to  look  no  farther  for  an- 
other foundation  of  the  right  I  am  sure,  more- 
over, that  the  business  of  the  Company  was  so  man-  / 
aged  as  to  bear  the  strictest  scrutiny,  and  to  be  in  / 
all  respects  subservient  to  the  best  interests  of  the 
country,  and  the  duties  of  religion  and  humanity. 
.  .  .  But  I  am  described  as  a  'fugleman'  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company;  first  to  cheat  our  Govern- 
ment out  of  the  whole  country,  and  next  to  prevent 
its  settlement.  I  am  an  old  man,  and  my  head  is 
very  white  with  the  frost  of  many  winters,  but  I 
have  never  before  been  accused  as  a  cheat.  I  was 
born  a  British  subject  -  I  have  had  for  twenty  years 
the  superintendence  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany's trade,  in  Oregon,  and  on  the  North  West 
Coast;  and  may  be  said  to  have  been  the  represen- 
tative of  British  interests  in  this  country;  but  I  have 
never  descended  to  court  popularity,  by  pandering 
to  prejudice,  and  doing  wrong  to  any  one.  I  have 
on  the  other  hand,  afforded  every  assistance  to  all 
who  required  it,  and  which  religion  and  humanity 
dictated;  and  this  community  can  say  if  I  did  so 
or  not.  .  .  .  But,  moreover,  it  is  well  known 
that  the  fact  of  my  having  aided  in  the  settlement 
of  this  country  has  been  a  subject  of  serious  com- 
plaints, and  grave  charges  made  against  me,  by 
subjects  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  during  the 
pending  of  the  boundary  question  -  who  seem  to 
have  been  imbued  with  the  same  kind  disposition 
toward  their  fellow  men  as  Mr.  Thurston. 

"Mr.   Thurston   says,   'In    1845   he   [Dr.   Mc- 
Loughlin]  sent  an  express  to  Fort  Hall,  eight  hun- 


132  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

dred  miles,  to  warn  the  immigration  that  if  they 
attempted  to  come  to  the  Willamette,  they  would 
be  all  cut  off.'  This  is  a  calumny  as  gratuitous  as 
it  is  unprovoked;  but  it  is  with  mingled  emotions 
of  astonishment  and  indignation  that  I  have  acci- 
dentally become  acquainted  with  the  contents  of 
another  document,  entitled  a  'Letter  of  the  Dele- 
gate from  Oregon  to  the  members  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  in  behalf  of  his  constituents, 
touching  the  Oregon  Land  Bill.'  On  the  back  of 
the  only  copy  sent,  is  written  in  the  handwriting  of 
Mr.  Thurston- 'Keep  this  still  till  next  mail, 
when  I  shall  send  them  generally.  The  debate  on 
the  California  Bill  closes  next  Tuesday,  when  I 
hope  to  get  it  and  passed  -  my  land  bill ;  keep  dark 
till  next  mail. 
"June  9,  1850.  Thurston.'" 

"...  In  the  letter  referred  to,  speaking  of 
Oregon  City,  he  says,  'The  Methodist  Mission  first 
took  the  claim  with  the  view  of  establishing  here 
their  Mills  and  Mission  -  they  were  forced  to  leave 
it  under  the  fear  of  having  the  savages  of  Oregon 
let  loose  upon  them.'  This  charge  is  likewise  with- 
out a  fraction  of  truth,  as  a  few  facts  will  demon- 
strate. .  .  .  Mr.  Thurston  is  not  ashamed  to 
more  than  intimate  a  disposition  to  'let  loose  upon 
them  savages  of  Oregon.'  Mr.  Thurston  says,  'He 
has  held  it  by  violence  and  dint  of  threats  up  to  this 
time. '-That  I  have  held  my  claim  or  any  part  of  it 
[Dr.  McLoughlin's  land  claim]  by  violence  or 
threats,  no  man  will  assert,  and  far  less  will  one  be 
found  to  swear  so,  who  will  be  believed  on  his  oath, 
in  a  court  of  justice.     I  have  probably  no  other 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  133 

enemy  than  Mr.  Thurston,  so  lost  to  the  suggestions 
of  conscience  as  to  make  a  statement  so  much  at 
variance  with  my  whole  character.  He  says  that  I 
have  realized,  up  to  the  4th  of  March,  1849,  $200,- 

000  from  the  sale  of  lots;  this  is  also  wholly  untrue. 

1  have  given  away  lots  to  the  Methodists,  Catho- 
lics, Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  and  Bap- 
tists. I  have  given  8  lots  to  a  Roman  Catholic 
Nunnery,  8  lots  to  the  Clackamas  Female  Protest- 
ant Seminary,  incorporated  by  the  Oregon  Legis- 
lature. The  Trustees  are  all  Protestants,  although 
it  is  well  known  I  am  a  Roman  Catholic.  In  short, 
in  one  way  and  another  I  have  donated  to  the 
county,  to  schools,  to  churches,  and  private  indi- 
viduals, more  than  three  hundred  town  lots,  and  I 
never  realized  in  cash  $20,000  from  all  the  origi- 
nal sales  I  have  made.  He  continues,  'He  is  still 
an  Englishman,  still  connected  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  refuses  to  file  his  intentions  to 
become  an  American  citizen.'  If  I  was  an  Eng- 
lishman, I  know  no  reason  why  I  should  not  ac- 
knowledge it;  but  I  am  a  Canadian  by  birth,  and 
an  Irishman  by  descent.  I  am  neither  ashamed  of 
my  birth-place  or  lineage.  ...  I  declared  my 
intention  to  become  an  American  citizen  on  the 
30th  May,  1849,  as  any  one  may  see  who  will  ex- 
amine the  records  of  the  court,  in  this  place.  Mr. 
Thurston  knew  this  fact  -  he  asked  me  for  my  vote 
and  influence.  Why  did  he  ask  me  for  my  vote  if  I 
had  not  one  to  give?  I  voted  and  voted  against 
him,  as  he  well  knew,  and  as  he  seems  well  to  re- 
member. But  he  proceeds  to  refer  to  Judge  Bryant 
for  the  truth  of  his  statement,  in  which  he  affirms 


134  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

that  I  assigned  to  Judge  Bryant,  as  a  reason  why  I 
still  refuse  to  declare  my  intention  to  become  an 
American  citizen,  that  I  cannot  do  it  without  prej- 
udicing my  standing  in  England.  I  am  astonished 
how  the  Supreme  Judge  could  have  made  such  a 
statement  1  as  he  had  a  letter  from  me  pointing  out 
my  intention  of  becoming  an  American  citizen. 
The  cause,  which  led  to  my  writing  this  letter,  is 
that  the  island,  called  Abernethy's  Island  by  Mr. 
Thurston,  and  which  he  proposes  to  donate  to  Mr. 
Abernetby,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  is  the  same  island 
which  Mr.  Hathaway  and  others  jumped  in  1841, 
and  formed  themselves  into  a  joint  stock  company, 
and  erected  a  saw  and  grist  mill  on  it,  as  already 
stated.  From  a  desire  to  preserve  peace  in  the 
country,  I  deferred  bringing  the  case  to  trial,  till 
the  government  extended  its  jurisdiction  over  the 
country;  but  when  it  had  done  so,  a  few  days  after 
the  arrival  of  Judge  Bryant  and  before  the  courts 
were  organized,  Judge  Bryant  bought  the  island 
of  George  Abernethy,  Esq.,  who  had  bought  the 
stock  of  the  other  associates,  and  as  the  Island  was 
in  Judge  Bryant's  district,  and  as  there  was  only 
two  judges  in  the  Territory,  I  thought  I  could  not 
at  the  time  bring  the  case  to  a  satisfactory  decision. 
I  therefore  deferred  bringing  the  case  forward  to 
a  time  when  the  bench  would  be  full. 
But  Mr.  Thurston  makes  another  statement  in 
which  there  is  not  more  truth.  He  says,  'Last 
summer  he,'  meaning  myself,  'informed  the  writer 
of  this  that  whatever  was  made  out  of  the  claim 
was  to  go  to  the  common  fund  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  of  which  he  and  other  stock-holders 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  135 

would  share  in  proportion  to  their  stock;  in  other 
words,  that  he  was  holding  this  claim  in  trust  for 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.'  ...  I  assert  I 
never  made  such  a  statement  to  Mr.  Thurston,  and 
I  assert  that  I  hold  my  claim  for  myself  alone,  and 
that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  nor  no  other  per- 
son or  persons,  hold  or  have  any  interest  in  it  with 
me.  .  .  .  Can  the  people  of  Oregon  City  and 
its  vicinity  believe  Mr.  Thurston  did  not  know, 
some  months  before  he  left  this  [territory],  that 
Mr.  Abernethy  had  sold  his  rights,  whatever  they 
were,  to  Judge  Bryant,  and  therefore  proposing  to 
Congress  to  donate  this  Island  to  Mr.  Abernethy, 
his  heirs  and  assigns,  was,  in  fact,  proposing  to  do- 
nate it  to  Judge  Bryant,  his  heirs  and  assigns."*^ 

Thurston  attempted  to  reply  to  this  letter  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  published  in  the  Oregon  Spectator, 
in  a  speech  made  in  Congress  December  26,  1850.^® 
With  all  its  false  statements  this  speech  utterly 
failed  to  justify  the  actions  of  Thurston  against  Dr. 
McLoughlin. 

Lieutenant  Neil  M.  Howison,  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  came  to  Oregon  in  1846,  in  charge 
of  the  United  States  schooner  "Shark."  He  made 
a  report  on  Oregon  to  the  Commander  of  the  Pa- 
cific squadron.  The  report  is  dated  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, February  i,  1847.  It  was  printed  by  order 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  at  Washington,  in 
1848,  more  than  two  years  prior  to  Thurston's 
speech.    It  is  Miscellaneous  Document  No.  29  of 

"This  letter  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  is  set  forth  in  full  in  Document 
L.     See  also  letter  of  William  J.  Berry,  Document  M. 

**  See  Document  N,  where  excerpts  from  this  speech  are  set  forth. 


136  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

the  first  session  of  the  30th  Congress.  In  this  re- 
port, after  speaking  in  praise  of  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
Howison  said  of  him:  "He  resides  now  altogether 
at  Oregon  City  .  .  .  and  has,  by  his  advice 
and  assistance,  done  more  than  any  other  man  to- 
wards the  rapid  development  of  the  resources  of 
this  country."  Lieutenant  Howison  also  said,  in 
this  report,  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  "has  settled  him- 
self on  the  south  side  of  the  river  [Columbia]  with 
full  expectation  of  becoming  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  I  hope  the  government  at  home 
will  duly  appreciate  him." 

In  the  report  of  Dr.  Elijah  White,  dated  Wil- 
lamette Valley,  Oregon,  November  15,  1843,  to 
J.  M,  Porter,  Secretary  of  War,  Dr.  White  said: 
"And  here  allow  me  to  say,  the  seasonable  service, 
in  which  hundreds  of  dollars  were  gratuitously  ex- 
pended in  assisting  such  numbers  of  our  poor  emi- 
grant citizens  down  the  Columbia  to  the  Wil- 
lamette, entitles  Gov.  McLoughlin,  saying  nothing 
of  his  previous  fatherly  and  fostering  care  of  this 
colony,  to  the  honorable  consideration  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  government.  And  I  hope,  as  he  is 
desirous  to  settle  with  his  family  in  this  country, 
and  has  made  a  claim  at  the  falls  of  the  Willamette, 
his  claim  will  be  honored  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
make  him  conscious  that  we,  as  a  nation,  are  not 
insensible  to  his  numerous  acts  of  benevolence  and 
hospitality  towards  our  countrymen.  Sir,  in  the 
midst  of  slander,  envy,  jealousy,  and,  in  too  many 
instances,  of  the  blackest  ingratitude,  his  unceas- 
ing, never  tiring  hospitality  aflects  me,  and  makes 
him  appear  in  a  widely  dififerent  light  than  too 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  137 

many  would  have  him  and  his  worthy  associates 
appear  before  the  world."  ^^ 

Protests  against  Thurston's  Actions. 

As  shown  in  Dr.  McLoughlin's  printed  letter  of 
September  12,  1850,  Thurston  had  sent  to  a  con- 
fidant in  Oregon,  with  instructions  for  secrecy,  a 
printed  copy  of  his  letter  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives.   He  also  sent  a  printed  copy  of  the  bill 
for  the  Donation  Land  Law.     These  arrived  in 
Oregon  late  in  August  or  early  in  September,  1850. 
The  eleventh  section  of  the  latter  began  to  be  noised 
about,  and  Thurston's  friends,  who  were  not  in 
the  conspiracy,  met  the  charge  with  scornful  de- 
nials.    They  said  such  a  thing  was  not  possible. 
But  it  was.^®    There  were  Oregon  pioneers  who 
protested.     Before  the  law  passed,  when  the  in- 
tended action  of  Thurston  became  known,  in  rela- 
tion to  said  section  eleven,  on  September  19,  1850, 
a  public  meeting  was  held  in  Oregon  City.    Reso- 
lutions were  passed  declaring  that  the  selection  of 
the  Oregon  City  claim  for  an  university  reservation 
was  uncalled  for  by  any  considerable  portion  of 
the  citizens  of  the  Territory,  and  was  invidious 
and  unjust  to  Dr.  McLoughlin ;  and  that  he  "mer- 
its the  gratitude  of  multitudes  of  persons  in  Ore- 
gon for  the  timely  and  long-continued  assistance 
rendered  by  him  in  the  settlement  of  this  Terri- 
tory."   At  the  same  time  a  memorial  to  Congress 
was  signed  by  fifty-six  persons,  which  set  forth 
that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  taken  up  the  Oregon 

*''  White's  Ten  Years  in  Oregon,  pp.  220,  221. 
**  Oregon  Spectator,  August  22  and  29,  1850. 


138  Dr.  John  McLoughiin 

City  claim  like  other  claims  in  the  Territory,  and 
it  had  been  held  by  him  in  accordance  with  the 
Provisional  and  Territorial  governments  of  Ore- 
gon; that  the  memorialists  have  ever  regarded  it 
as  entitled  to  protection  as  fully  as  other  claims, 
without  an  intimation  to  the  contrary  from  any 
official  source  until  that  time;  that  under  this  im- 
pression, both  before  and  especially  since  March 
4,  1849,  large  portions  of  it  in  blocks  and  lots  had 
been  purchased  in  good  faith  by  many  citizens  of 
Oregon,  who  had  erected  valuable  buildings  there- 
on, in  many  instances,  in  the  expectation  of  having 
a  complete  and  sufficient  title  when  Congress 
should  grant  a  title  to  Dr.  McLoughiin,  as  was 
confidently  expected;  that  since  March  4,  1849, 
he  had  donated  for  county,  educational,  charitable, 
and  religious  purposes  more  than  two  hundred 
lots.  They,  therefore,  remonstrated  against  the 
passage  of  the  bill  in  its  present  form,  believing 
that  it  would  work  a  "severe,  inequitable,  unneces- 
sary, and  irremediable  injustice."  ^^  There  were 
no  telegraph  lines  in  Oregon  or  California  in  those 
days.  And  the  bill  was  a  law  eight  days  there- 
after. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  among  those  who  took 
part  in  these  proceedings  and  signed  this  memorial 
were  my  father,  James  D.  Holman,  a  pioneer  of 
1846,  and  my  uncle,  Woodford  C.  Holman,  a 
pioneer  of  1845.  October  26,  1850,  a  public  meet- 
ing was  held  at  Salem,  the  stronghold  of  the  Mis- 
sion Party.  At  this  meeting  a  committee  on  reso- 
lutions was  appointed.     The  resolutions  reported 

**  Oregon  Spectator,  September  26,  1850. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  139 

by  the  committee  were  adopted.  They  "highly 
approved  all  the  actions  of  Samuel  R.  Thurston 
in  Congress,"  and  said  "that  facts  well  known  in 
Oregon  will  sustain  him  in  all  he  has  said  about 
Dr.  McLoughlin  and  the  H.  B.  Company."  An- 
other of  these  resolutions  heartily  approved  the 
course  taken  by  Thurston,  in  Congress  upon  the 
Donation  Land  Bill  "especially  that  part  which  re- 
lates to  the  Oregon  City  claim,"  and  "that  if  that 
claim  should  be  secured  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  it 
would,  in  effect,  be  donating  land  to  the  H.  B. 
Company."  Another  of  these  resolutions  was, 
"That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  the  children 
of  Oregon  have  a  better  right  to  the  balance  of  that 
claim  [Oregon  City  claim]  than  Dr.  McLough- 
lin." Another  of  these  resolutions  was,  "That  the 
H.  B.  Company,  with  Dr.  McLoughlin  as  their 
fugleman,  have  used  every  means  that  could  be 
invented  by  avarice,  duplicity,  cunning,  and  decep- 
tion to  retard  American  settlement,  and  cripple  the 
growth  of  American  interests  in  Oregon."  ^^ 

There  are  certain  qualities  in  some  men  which 
move  them  never  to  forgive  a  favor  bestowed  on 
them;  to  ruin  those  they  have  wronged  or  cheated; 
to  endeavor  to  cover  with  obloquy  those  they  have 
lied  about;  and  to  seek  to  hurt  any  one  of  better 
quality  than  they  are.  As  a  native  son  of  Oregon 
I  am  ashamed  of  some  of  its  pioneers  and  their 
actions.  But  in  such  a  movement  as  the  early  set- 
tling of  Oregon,  there  were,  of  necessity,  some  men 
of  coarse  fiber,  and  of  doubtful  integrity  and 
honor.     But  such  men  were  rare  exceptions.     To 

'"'  Oregon  Spectator,  November  7,  1850. 


140  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

the  honor  of  the  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
Oregon  pioneers,  be  it  said  that  they  took  no  part 
in  these  actions  against  Dr.  McLoughlin,  nor  did 
they  endorse  or  sympathize  with  Thurston's  ac- 
tions and  those  of  his  co-conspirators  against  Dr. 
McLoughlin. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  many  thousands  of 
people,  men,  women,  and  children,  came  to  Ore- 
gon in  the  immigrations  after  1846.  There  were 
probably  in  the  immigrations  of  1847  to  1850,  in- 
clusive, an  aggregate  of  more  than  ten  thousand 
people,  the  number  of  men  being  in  the  ratio  of 
about  one  to  four.  The  immigration  of  1847  was 
composed  of  over  four  thousand  persons.  These 
later  immigrants  did  not  experience  the  difficulties 
which  beset  the  earlier  immigrants  along  the  Co- 
lumbia River  and  from  there  to  the  Willamette 
Valley.  They  did  not  need  the  assistance  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  which  the  immigrants  of  1843,  1844, 
and  1845  did.  They  found  Oregon  City  a  small 
but  thriving  settlement.  Some  of  them  were  easily 
led  to  believe  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  not  en- 
titled to  his  land  claim,  which  they  thought  was 
a  valuable  one,  especially  as  he  was  technically  a 
British  subject.  But  most  of  them  were  friendly 
to  him  for  his  kindness  to  them,  and  for  what  he 
had  done  for  the  earlier  immigrants.  They  ap- 
preciated that  he  was  justly  entitled  to  his  land 
claim.  The  love  of  justice  and  fair  play  were  pre- 
dominant traits  of  most  Oregon  pioneers. 

The  Oregon  Donation  Land  Law. 
The  Donation  Land  Law  passed  and  was  ap- 


Dr.  John  McLoughiin  141 


proved  by  the  President  September  27,  1850.  Sec- 
tion 4  "granted  to  every  white  settler  or  occupant 
of  the  public  lands,  American  half-breed  Indians 
included,  above  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  being  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  or  having  made  a 
declaration,  according  to  law,  of  his  intention  to 
become  a  citizen,  or  who  shall  make  such  declara- 
tion on  or  before  the  first  day  of  December,  eight- 
een hundred  and  fifty-one,  now  residing  in  such 
territory,  or  who  shall  become  a  resident  thereof 
on  or  before  the  first  day  of  December,  1850,  and 
who  shall  have  resided  upon  and  cultivated  the 
same  for  four  consecutive  years,  and  shall  other- 
wise conform  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,"  320 
acres  of  land,  if  a  single  man,  or  if  a  married  man, 
640  acres,  320  acres  being  for  his  wife.  The 
last  sentence  of  Section  4  is  as  follows :  "Provided 
further,  however,  that  this  section  shall  not  be  so 
construed  as  to  allow  those  claiming  rights  under 
the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  relative  to  the  Ore- 
gon territory,  to  claim  both  under  this  grant  and 
the  treaty,  but  merely  to  secure  them  the  election 
and  confine  them  to  a  single  grant  of  land." 

Section  eleven  of  said  Donation  Law  is  as  fol- 
lows: "Sec.  II.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That 
what  is  known  as  the  'Oregon  City  Claim,'  except- 
ing the  Abernethy  Island,  which  is  hereby  con- 
firmed to  the  legal  assigns  of  the  Willamette  Mill- 
ing and  Trading  Companies,  shall  be  set  apart  and 
be  at  the  disposal,  of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  the 
proceeds  thereof  to  be  applied,  by  said  Legislative 
Assembly,  to  the  establishment  and  endowment  of 
a  university,  to  be  located  at  such  place  in  the  ter- 


142  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ritory  as  the  Legislative  Assembly  may  designate ; 
Provided,  however,  That  all  lots  and  parts  of  lots 
in  said  claim,  sold  or  granted  by  Doctor  John 
McLoughlin,  previous  to  the  fourth  of  March, 
eighteen  hundred  and  forty-nine,  shall  be  con- 
firmed to  the  purchaser  or  donee,  or  their  assigns, 
to  be  certified  to  the  commissioner  of  the  general 
land  office  by  the  surveyor-general,  and  patents  to 
issue  on  said  certificates,  as  in  other  cases:  Provid- 
ed, further,  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained 
shall  be  so  construed  and  executed  as  in  any  way 
to  destroy  or  affect  any  rights  to  land  in  said  ter- 
ritory, holden  or  claimed  under  the  provisions  of 
the  treaty  or  treaties  existing  between  this  coun- 
try and  Great  Britain."  By  the  "Oregon  City 
claim"  is  meant  Dr.  McLoughlin's  land  claim. 
This  section  eleven  is  unjust  in  its  treatment  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  Not  that  Congress  was  to 
blame.  It  did  not  know  the  facts.  Did  not  the 
first  Delegate  from  Oregon  advocate  it?  Did  not 
the  first  Territorial  Chief  Justice  of  Oregon  then 
in  Washington,  advise  it?  And  did  not  the 
Delegate  and  the  Chief  Justice  say  that  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin was  so  dangerous  and  unprincipled 
a  man  as  not  be  entitled  to  his  land  claim?  And 
that  he  refused  to  become  an  American  citizen? 
There  was  not  even  a  recognition  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin's right  to  the  improvements  which  he 
had  placed  on  his  land  claim.  And  there,  in 
all  its  infamy,  said  section  eleven  stands  on  the 
statute  books  today.  If  the  assigns  of  the  Mill- 
ing Company  were  entitled  to  Abernethy  Is- 
land, why  should  not  the  courts  have  settled  the 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  143 

matter  according  to  law  and  justice,  as  other  con- 
tested land  claims  were  settled? 

The  Conspiracy  Effective. 

The  motives  and  scheme  of  the  conspirators  to 
deprive  Dr.  McLoughlin  of  his  land  claim  were 
very  simple  but  effective.  They  desired  to  obtain 
Abernethy  Island,  which  was  a  part  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  land  claim,  for  the  assigns  of  the 
Oregon  Milling  Company.  They  desired  to  de- 
prive Dr.  McLoughlin  of  the  rest  of  his  land  claim 
to  wreak  their  malice  against  him,  and  at  the  same 
time,  by  statute  passed  by  Congress,  to  have  their 
actions  against  him  apparently  justified.  Theirs 
was  an  uneasy  conscience.  It  was,  therefore,  neces- 
sary to  make  it  appear  to  Congress  that  Dr. 
McLx)ughlin  was  not  only  not  entitled  to  his  land 
claim  nor  any  part  of  it,  but  that  he  should  not 
have  it  under  any  circumstances;  that  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin was  a  man  dangerous  to  Oregon,  its  peo- 
ple, and  their  interests,  and  had  unfairly  tried 
to  prevent  its  settlement  by  citizens  of  the  United 
States;  that  he  refused  to  become  an  American 
citizen;  and  that  he  was  not  really  trying  to  get 
the  land  claim  for  himself,  but  for  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  although  they  knew  his  resignation 
had  become  effective  in  1846.  Having  so  wronged 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  they  still  did  not  dare  to  try  to 
get  the  whole  claim.  To  keep  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
or  his  heirs,  from  ever  getting  it,  they  tried  to 
bribe  the  people  of  Oregon  by  providing  that  his 
land  claim,  less  Abernethy  Island,  should  be  used 
for  the  establishment  of  an  university,  which  would 


144  ^^.  John  McLoughlin 

be  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  people  of  Oregon.  It 
was  a  cunning  scheme.  Thurston's  reward  was  to 
be  a  re-election  as  Delegate  to  Congress.  He  died 
before  he  could  be  re-elected. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  in  Oregon,  at  first,  on 
the  passage  of  the  Donation  Land  Law.  Every 
settler,  except  Dr.  McLoughlin,  could  now  have 
his  land  claim,  for  the  title  to  which  he  had  waited 
so  long.  A  great  university  was  to  be  built,  with- 
out cost  to  anyone,  except  Dr.  McLoughlin  and 
his  heirs.  This  was  long  before  the  discussion 
about  using  "tainted  money."  But  the  reaction 
against  Thurston  soon  began.  The  newspapers 
printed  letters  against  Thurston's  actions  in  vilify- 
ing Dr.  McLoughlin  and  in  taking  away  his  land 
claim.  Thurston's  party  papers  began  to  mention 
or  to  advocate  other  available  men^^  for  Thurs- 
ton's position  as  delegate  to  Congress.°^ 

Career  and  Death  of  Thurston. 

Even  had  the  Mission  Party,  at  the  next  election, 
been  strong  enough  to  have  elected  Thurston,  had 
he  lived,  his  political  career  would  probably  not 
have  continued  long.  April  9,  1851,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-five  years  he  died  at  sea  off  Acapulco,  Mex- 
ico, while  returning  to  Oregon.  Thurston's  let- 
ter, speeches,  and  actions  against  Dr.  McLoughlin 
are  the  one  great  blot  on  his  career.  Thurston  was 
a  man  of  ability,  a  fluent  speaker,  a  profuse  writer 


'^  Western  Star  (Milwaukee,  Oregon)  February  20,  and  March  13, 
1851. 

**  Attention  is  called  to  the  correspondence  of  S.  R.  Thurston, 
Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth,  R.  C.  Winthrop  and  Dr.  McLoughlin,  which  is 
set  forth  in  Document  O. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  145 

of  letters,  of  untiring  energy,  but  inclined  to  be 
vindictive,  and  was  not  careful  about  the  truth  of 
his  statements  concerning  a  person  he  opposed  or 
disliked.  He  made  quite  a  reputation  during  the 
short  time  he  was  in  Congress.  He  was  quite  popu- 
lar in  Oregon  until  his  actions  against  Dr. 
McLoughlin  became  known.  But  for  his  actions 
against  Dr.  McLoughlin  his  memory  would  even 
now  be  highly  regarded  in  Oregon.  The  passage 
of  the  Donation  Land  Law  was  largely  due  to 
his  efiforts.  In  spite  of  said  section  eleven  that  law 
gave  great  satisfaction  to  many  people  in  Oregon. 
Up  to  that  time  no  settler  had  more  than  a  squat- 
ter's right.  Man  is  naturally  selfish.  Notwith- 
standing the  treatment  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  by  this 
law,  many  settlers  were  pleased  that  they  could 
now  secure  titles  to  their  lands,  and  to  that  extent 
were  grateful  to  Thurston. 

Thurston  secured  appropriations  for  Oregon  ag- 
gregating one  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  dol- 
lars. Of  this  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  were 
for  expenses  of  the  Cayuse  Indian  War.  He  intro- 
duced and  worked  for  many  bills  favorable  to  Ore- 
gon and  busied  himself  in  looking  after  the  inter- 
ests of  Oregon  and  his  constituents.  He  wrote  a 
great  number  of  letters,  which  were  published  in 
the  Oregon  Spectator^  calling  attention  to  what 
he  was  doing  in  Congress  and  thus  kept  his  name 
continuously  before  the  people,  for  he  was  a  skill- 
ful politician.  But  his  alliance  with  leaders  of  the 
Mission  Party  was  a  political  error. 

This  address  is  about  Dr.  McLoughlin.  I  have 
not  attempted  to  give  the  life  of  Thurston,  nor  a 


146  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

history  of  the  Methodist  Mission.  To  speak  only 
of  Thurston's  actions  against  Dr.  McLoughlin 
might  be  taken  to  mean  that  Thurston  did  nothing 
else  while  in  Congress.  In  estimating  Thurston's 
actions  in  Congress,  those  that  are  to  his  credit 
must  be  taken  into  account  as  well  as  those  which 
are  not.  His  actions  in  regard  to  Dr.  McLough- 
lin's  land  claim  were  an  unfortunate  bid  for  popu- 
larity, which  reacted  on  him  and  his  reputation. 
Thurston's  untrue  and  unjust  statements,  his  des- 
picable actions,  and  his  false  and  malicious 
charges  against  Dr.  McLoughlin  are  indefensible. 
Thurston's  untimely  death  probably  prevented 
justice  being  done  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  his  dev- 
isees sooner  than  it  was.  Thurston  was  not  a 
strong  man  physically  and  it  was  thought  that  he 
had  shortened  his  life  in  working  for  Oregon  and 
his  constituents.  To  act  justly  to  the  living  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  in  a  certain  sense,  might  be  con- 
strued as  reflecting  on  the  dead  Thurston. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

All  my  ancestors  and  relatives  for  many  genera- 
tions have  been  Protestants.  I  was  brought  up 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Old  School  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  which  my  parents  were  members  from 
my  early  childhood  until  their  deaths  at  advanced 
ages.  I  have  never  been  a  member  of  any  church, 
but  my  feelings  and  sympathies  have  always  been 
that  of  a  Protestant.  I  respect  all  true  sects  and 
denominations  of  the  great  Christian  Church.  I 
respect  the  religion  of  the  Jews,  of  Buddha,  and  of 
Confucius,  for  the  good  that  is  in  them.    I  respect 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  147 

every  man's  religious  faith,  as  long  as  it  is  truly  a 
religious  faith.  I  uphold  the  right  of  every  man 
to  worship  God  according  to  his  liking.  I  re- 
spect, I  admire,  the  man  who  against  opposition 
and  against  his  material  and  business  interests  fol- 
lows the  dictates  of  his  conscience  in  religious  and 
other  matters  of  principle.  While  I  may  not  agree 
with  him,  I  defend  his  right.  It  is  immaterial  to 
me  whether  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  a  Protestant  or 
a  Roman  Catholic.  It  is  sufficient  to  me  that  he 
honestly  acted  according  to  his  reason,  his  judg- 
ment, and  what  he  considered  was  right.  I  con- 
demn any  persecution  of  him  for  being  true  to  his 
conscience.  I  have  great  admiration  for  the  Meth- 
odist missionaries  who  were  true  to  their  prin- 
ciples, who  tried  to  lead  blameless  lives  and  to  con- 
vert the  Indians,  and  respected  the  rights  of  others. 
It  is  immaterial  to  me  whether  the  missionaries 
were  Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Congregational- 
ists,  or  Roman  Catholics,  so  long  as  they  were 
really  missionaries  and  true  to  their  God,  accord- 
ing to  their  lights,  true  to  their  professions,  to 
themselves,  and  to  their  fellow  men.  I  have  no 
attack  to  make  on  religion,  nor  on  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  nor  on  its  true  missionaries, 
clerical  or  lay. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  been  one 
of  the  great  civilizing  agencies  in  the  United 
States,  particularly  in  the  newer  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. In  its  earlier  days,  and  until  the  great  growth 
of  the  country  in  the  past  forty  or  fifty  years,  it 
reached  a  class  of  people,  which  no  other  denomi- 
nation could  reach  or  influence,  and  made  better 


148  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

people  of  them.  All  churches  and  denominations 
are  subject  to  conditions  and  to  evolution.  And  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  today  one  of  the 
great  and  influential  churches  in  the  United  States. 
There  always  have  been  and  there  always  will  be 
men  who  make  use  of  religion  for  sinister  purposes. 
These  unworthy  missionaries  who  were  parties  to 
the  unjust  treatment  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  are  not 
entitled  to  escape  criticism,  nor  to  have  their 
wrongful  acts  passed  over  because  of  their  reli- 
gious pretentions.  They  are  subject  all  the  more 
to  severe  condemnation.  All  good  Methodists 
condemn  those  wrongful  acts  of  the  missionaries 
as  all  true,  honest  Oregon  pioneers  condemn  the 
acts  of  the  pioneers  who  abused  or  cheated  Dr. 
McLoughlin.  But  these  base  actions  were  not  sus- 
tained by,  nor  concurred  in  by  all  the  Methodist 
missionaries.  Some  condemned  these  actions. 
Others  of  these  missionaries,  appreciating  what 
Dr.  McLoughlin  had  done  for  them,  and  his  hu- 
manitarianism,  spoke  in  his  praise,  but  did  not 
break  with  their  fellows  who  were  persecuting 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  Some  of  the  signers  of  the 
Shortess  petition  afterwards  regretted,  or  were 
ashamed  of  their  actions  in  so  doing.  Some  timid 
persons  may  say  that  it  would  be  better,  in  this  ad- 
dress, merely  to  speak  of  the  kind  acts  and  high 
character  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  not  of  the 
wrongful  and  unjust  ways  in  which  he  was  treated 
by  some  of  the  early  immigrants,  by  some  of  the 
Methodist  missionaries,  by  Thurston,  by  Bryant, 
and  others.  But  that  would  not  show  what  he  suf- 
fered for  the  upbuilding  of  Oregon,  nor  his  mar- 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  149 

tyrdom  on  account  of  his  humanity,  of  his  prin- 
ciples, and  of  his  integrity.  It  would  not  be  a 
true,  nor  an  accurate  account  of  his  life  and  time. 
Some  persons  in  writing  a  life  of  Jesus  would 
speak  of  his  gentleness,  his  kindness,  and  his  hu- 
manity, and  say  no  more.  They  would  not  say 
anything  against  the  Pharisees,  nor  of  their  con- 
demnation by  Jesus,  because  the  Pharisees  were 
people  of  some  standing  in  their  community,  and 
did  some  kindly  acts,  and  for  fear  of  offending  the 
descendants  of  the  Pharisees.  Such  historians 
would  not  say  anything  against  Caiaphas,  the  high 
priest,  nor  his  actions  against  Jesus,  because  they 
might  offend  those  religiously  inclined.  They 
would  not  say  anything  against  those  who  cried 
"Crucify  him,"  in  their  religious  zeal.  They 
would  not  say  anything  against  Pontius  Pilate,  for 
fear  of  being  thought  to  have  attacked  the  Judici- 
ary. They  would  either  omit  the  crucifixion  or 
merely  say  the  last  days  of  Jesus  were  passed  some- 
what in  sorrow  and  in  pain.  But  such  a  history 
would  be  trivial,  and  of  no  value.  It  would  fail 
to  show  what  Jesus  did  and  suffered  in  his  en- 
deavors to  help  mankind.  It  would  be  a  history  in 
name  only. 

Dr.  McLoughlin's  Memorial  to  Congress. 

By  the  passage  of  the  Donation  Land  Law,  and 
also  by  reason  of  the  letter  and  of  the  speeches  of 
Thurston  in  Congress,  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  put 
in  the  humiliating  position  of  having  to  issue  a 
printed  circular  letter  to  get  expressions  of  opin- 
ions of  others,  as  to  the  falsity  of  the  charges  made 


150  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

against  him  by  Thurston,  and  to  support  a  memor- 
ial to  Congress  which  Dr.  McLoughlin  afterwards 
sent  to  Congress  with  all  the  evidence.  But  his 
memorial  accomplished  nothing.  There  was,  too, 
the  question  that  Congress  had  given  away  his  land 
claim,  which  was  then  technically  the  property 
of  Oregon,  for  an  university,  and  that  Congress 
could  not,  with  dignity  to  itself,  revoke  its  gift. 
And  who  was  Dr.  McLoughlin  to  Congress?  He 
was  away  out  in  Oregon  nearly  4,000  miles  from 
Washington.  There  were  great  and  serious  mat- 
ters to  be  considered  by  Congress.  The  Oregon 
question  was  settled.  What  were  the  wrongs  and 
misfortunes  of  one  old  man  to  Congress? 

In  answer  to  the  printed  circular  issued  by  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  after  the  passage  of  the  Donation 
Land  Law,  for  the  purposes  of  his  memorial  to 
Congress,  he  received  many  commendatory  letters. 
I  give  merely  excerpts  from  the  letter  of  that  noble 
old  pioneer,  Jesse  Applegate,  an  immigrant  of 
1843.  ^^  wrote:  "I  have  received  your  letter  of 
inquiries,  and  take  pleasure  in  replying  to  such  of 
them  as  I  personally  know  to  be  true.  I  came  to 
this  country  in  the  fall  of  1843,  and,  from  that  time 
forward,  I  can  safely  testify  that  your  conduct  has 
been  the  most  generous  and  philanthropic,  not  only 
to  immigrants  from  the  United  States,  but  to  all 
requiring  your  assistance,  whether  natives  or  for- 
eigners. I  can  also  say  that  you  have  greatly  en- 
couraged and  given  much  assistance  in  settling  and 
developing  the  resources  of  the  country,  but  I  have 
by  no  means  considered  your  motive  for  doing  so 
political,  or  that  your  charitable  acts  were  intended 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  151 


to  advance  the  interests  of  any  particular  nation, 
but  that  you  acted  in  the  one  case  simply  from  a 
sense  of  Christian  duty  and  humanity,  and  in  the 
other  from  a  natural  desire  to  be  useful  in  your 
day  and  generation.  .  .  .  But  as  the  office  of 
Chief  Factor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  is  in 
no  way  connected  with  politics,  the  discharge  of  its 
duties  imposed  no  restrictions  upon  your  private 
sentiments,  and  unless  they  led  to  a  betrayal  of 
your  trust,  which  has  never  been  charged  against 
you,  as  an  Irishman  and  a  Catholic,  you  were  free 
to  feel  and  express  your  partiality  for  the  free 
and  tolerant  institutions  of  the  United  States. 
That  you  did  entertain  such  partiality,  from  my 
first  acquaintance  with  you,  need  not  depend  upon 
my  assertion,  for  it  is  a  fact  well  known,  and  one 
you  did  not  pretend  to  conceal." 

Jesse  Applegate  then  says,  in  this  letter,  that  he 
was  present  in  1845  when  Dr.  McLoughlin  ap- 
plied to  Judge  Peter  H.  Burnett,  the  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Provisional  Government,  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  and  to  obtain 
first  naturalization  papers,  but  Judge  Burnett  de- 
clined to  grant  the  request  for  he  believed  he  did 
not  have  any  jurisdiction  to  do  so.  Jesse  Applegate 
further  said  in  his  letter:  "That  'you  pulled  down 
houses  and  turned  women  and  children  out  of 
them,'  is  a  charge  not  only  false,  but  too  absurd  to 
require  refutation  or  notice.  I  can  myself  statq 
from  experience,  which  accords  with  that  of  every 
other  destitute  immigrant  who  applied  to  you  for 
assistance,  either  before  or  since  my  arrival  in  the 
country,  that  your  conduct  was  entirely  the  re- 


152  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

verse.  My  own  company,  of  more  than  seventy 
persons,  mostly  women  and  children,  who  arrived 
at  Vancouver  in  the  storms  of  winter,  in  a  condi- 
tion the  most  destitute  and  miserable,  were  re- 
ceived by  you,  not  as  strangers,  or  foreigners,  or 
as  some  would  have  it,  enemies,  but  as  brethren 
and  fit  subjects  of  hospitality  and  Christian  char- 
ity, and  our  reception  was  not  more  kind  and  gen- 
erous than  was  extended  to  every  immigrant  who 
sought  your  hospitality  or  assistance. 
But  however  unjust  the  Oregon  Land  Law  has 
been  towards  you,  it  may  be  said  in  excuse  for  the 
members  of  Congress  who  passed  it,  that  with  the 
concurring  and  uncontradicted  evidence  of  the 
Delegate  and  Chief  Justice  of  Oregon  before  them, 
you  neither  had  nor  would  become  an  American 
citizen,  they  are  not  chargeable  with  injustice."  °^ 

The  Persecution  Continued. 

The  conspirators  and  their  friends  did  not  cease 
their  persecution  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  They  were 
determined  he  should  not  have  his  land  claim.  To 
protect  the  reputation  of  Thurston  and  the  other 
conspirators,  it  was  necessary  to  defeat  all  actions 
of  the  Oregon  Legislative  Assembly  in  favor  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  If  that  body  made  any  peti- 
tions to  Congress  or  passed  any  resolutions  in 
favor  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  it  would  show  that  he 
was  entitled  to  his  land  claim,  the  injustice  of 
section  eleven  of  the  Donation  Land  Law,  and  that 
Thurston  was  guilty  of  malicious  untruths  in  nis 
letter  to,  and  his  speeches  before  Congress  relating 

"  See  Document  P. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  153 

to  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  his  land  claim.  Oregon 
could  not,  with  propriety,  pretend  to  act  justly  to 
Dr.  McLoughlin  and  still  retain  his  land  claim. 
I  regret  to  say  that  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  Oregon  Legislative  Assembly,  at  its  session 
in  1853-4,  ^ot  only  refused  to  help  Dr.  McLough- 
lin, but  by  its  actions  did  him  harm.  January  6, 
1854,  several  petitions  were  presented  to  the  House 
asking  that  Congress  be  memorialized  in  favor  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin's  right  to  his  land  claim,  "ex- 
cepting the  Abernethy  Island,"  but  the  petitions 
were  immediately  laid  on  the  table.  January  28, 
1854,  Orlando  Humason  presented  to  the  House 
the  following  resolution:  "Whereas,  the  acts  of 
John  McLoughlin  in  regard  to  his  treatment  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Oregon,  have,  as  we  believe, 
been  misrepresented,  therefore  -  RESOLVED,  that 
the  generous  conduct  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  in 
assisting  the  early  settlers  of  Oregon,  merits  our 
warmest  commendations,  and  that  as  evidence  of 
the  high  estimation  in  which  his  services  are  held 
by  his  fellow  citizens,  the  thanks  of  this  Assembly 
be  tendered  to  the  said  Dr.  John  McLoughlin."  ^^ 
But  by  the  vote  of  sixteen  to  seven,  three  being 
absent,  the  resolution  was  indefinitely  postponed^ 
which  was  the  legislative  way  of  defeating  it.  All 
honor  to  the  seven  who  voted  in  favor  of  the  reso- 
lution. Their  names  are  F.  C.  Cason,  L.  F.  Cartee, 
Orlando  Humason,  B.  B.  Jackson,  J.  W.  Moffitt, 
Chauncey  Nye,  and  L.  S.  Thompson. 


House  Journal,  1853-54,  p.  165. 


154  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

The  End  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  Life. 

All  these  troubles  and  tribulations  naturally  told 
on  Dr.  McLoughlin.  He  was  a  man  of  fortitude, 
who  brooded,  almost  silently,  over  his  sorrows, 
with  an  occasional  outburst  when  his  sufferings 
were  too  intense.  He  had  made  expensive  improve- 
ments on  his  land  claim,  including  a  flour-mill  and 
a  saw-mill,  and  other  buildings.  No  provisions 
were  ever  made  by  Congress  to  pay  for  these  im- 
provements. Even  his  dwelling  house  at  Oregon 
City,  which  for  several  years  had  been  the  home 
of  himself  and  his  family,  was  taken  from  him, 
with  his  other  improvements,  by  section  eleven  of 
the  Oregon  Donation  Land  Law.  It  is  true  he  re- 
mained in  possession  of  these  improvements,  in- 
cluding his  home,  but  by  sufferance  only.  Because 
the  Territory  of  Oregon  did  not  sell  the  land  he 
was  not  actually  ousted.  There  was  no  way  to 
acquire  land  in  Oregon  City,  taken  from  Dr. 
McLoughlin  by  said  section  eleven,  except  by  a 
law  passed  by  the  Oregon  Legislature.  And  the 
legislature  did  nothing. 

He  could  not  move  nor  sell  his  improvements. 
They  belonged  to  the  land  on  which  they  were 
erected.  Even  if  he  could  have  sold  them  they 
would  have  brought  but  little  as  they  would  have 
to  be  moved.  His  mills  were  erected  to  be  run 
by  water  power  and  they  were  conveniently  situ- 
ated on  the  bank  of  the  river  near  the  falls,  for 
the  economical  handling  of  wheat  and  logs  and 
the  shipping  of  products  of  these  mills.  They 
could  not,  at  that  time,  be  successful  financially  if 
they  were  moved  and  operated    by    steam.     He 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  155 


hoped  that  Congress  or  the  Legislature  would  re- 
store his  land  claim  to  him.     But  he  hoped  and 
waited  in  vain.    The  lion  was  entangled  in  a  net. 
He  struggled  but  he  could  not  escape.     And  so 
Dr.   McLoughlin  became  straitened  financially. 
Had  Dr.  McLoughlin  been  allowed  to  have  his 
land,  he  could  then  have  built  up  a  large  town  at 
Oregon  City.    As  it  was,  investors  went  to  places 
where  titles  to  land  could  be  obtained  and  there 
built  up  enterprises.    With  the  moneys  from  the 
sale  of  land  Dr.  McLoughlin  could  have  paid  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  all  the  moneys  due  by 
settlers,  who  had  failed  or  refused  to  pay.     The 
payment  of  this  heavy  indebtedness  Dr.  McLough- 
lin had  assumed.    It  was  a  matter  of  honor  with 
him.    He  owed  nothing  else  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.    The  settlers  who  would  not  pay  their 
indebtedness  caused  Dr.  McLoughlin  to  feel  keen- 
ly their  ingratitude.     If  they  had  paid  him,  he 
would  have  paid  the  Company  in  full. 

And  there,  too,  was  the  question  of  providing 
after  his  death  for  his  loving  and  faithful  wife,  to 
whom  he  was  devoted,  and  his  children.  He  had 
always  been  generous  to  his  family.  He  had  pro- 
vided for  his  mother  until  her  death  at  the  age  of 
eighty-three  years.  He  had  educated  four  nieces. 
He  had  helped  other  of  his  relatives.  Is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that  he  sometimes  felt  bitter? 

The  McLoughlin  Document  was  undoubtedly 
written  at  this  period.  It  is  a  brief  of  his  defense. 
He  probably  wrote  it  so  that  his  descendants  would 
understand.  At  the  end  of  this  Document,  Dr. 
McLoughlin  said:  "By  British  demagogues  I  have 


156  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

been  represented  as  a  traitor.  For  what?  Because 
I  acted  as  a  Christian;  saved  American  citizens, 
men,  women  and  children  from  the  Indian  toma- 
hawk and  enabled  them  to  make  farms  to  support 
their  families.^^  American  demagogues  have 
been  base  enough  to  assert  that  I  had  caused  Amer- 
ican citizens  to  be  massacred  by  hundreds  by  the 
savages.  I,  who  saved  all  I  could.  I  have  been 
represented  by  the  Delegate  from  Oregon,  the 
late  S.  R.  Thurston,  as  doing  all  I  could  to  prevent 
the  settling  [of  Oregon],  while  it  was  well  known 
to  every  American  settler  who  is  acquainted  with 
the  history  of  the  Territory  if  this  is  not  a  down- 
right falsehood,  and  most  certainly  will  say,  that 
he  most  firmly  believes  that  I  did  all  I  could  to 
promote  its  settlement,  and  that  I  could  not  have 
done  more  for  the  settlers  if  they  had  been  my 
brothers  and  sisters,  and,  after  being  the  first  per- 
son to  take  a  claim  in  the  country  and  assisting  the 
immigrants  as  I  have,  my  claim  is  reserved,  after 
having  expended  all  the  means  I  had  to  improve 
it,  while  every  other  settler  in  the  country  gets  his. 
But  as  I  felt  convinced  that  any  disturbance  be- 
tween us  here  might  lead  to  a  war  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  States,  I  felt  it  my  bounden  duty 
as  a  Christian,  to  act  as  I  did,  and  which  I  think 
averted  the  evil,  and  which  was  so  displeasing  to 
some  English  demagogues  that  they  represented 
me  to  the  British  government  as  a  person  so  partial 
to  American  interests  as  selling  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  goods,  in  my  charge,  cheaper  to  Amer- 


See  Document  Q. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  157 


ican  than  I  did  to  British  subjects.  .  .  .  Yet, 
after  acting  as  I  have,  spending  my  means  and  do- 
ing my  utmost  to  settle  the  country,  my  claim  is  re- 
served, while  every  other  settler  in  the  country 
gets  his;  and  how  much  this  has  injured  me,  is 
daily  injuring  me,  it  is  needless  to  say,  and  cer- 
tainly it  is  a  treatment  I  do  not  deserve  and  which 
I  did  not  expect.  To  be  brief,  I  founded  this  set- 
tlement and  prevented  a  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  and  for  doing  this  peace- 
ably and  quietly,  I  was  treated  by  the  British  in 
such  a  manner  that  from  self  respect  I  resigned  my 
situation  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  service, 
by  which  I  sacrificed  $12,000  per  annum,  and  the 
'Oregon  Land  Bill'  shows  the  treatment  I  received 
from  the  Americans." 

And  so,  worried  and  troubled  without  surcease, 
Dr.  McLoughlin  maintained  his  grand,  but  kindly, 
attitude  to  the  last.  But  these  matters  affected  his 
health.  For  several  years  before  his  death  he  was 
an  invalid,  but  his  pride  assisted  him  to  persevere 
and  to  transact  such  business  as  he  could,  although 
his  heart  was  breaking.  His  flesh  became  greatly 
reduced,  his  eyes  deeply  sunken.  He  grew  so  ema- 
ciated that  his  great  frame  stood  out,  making  him 
look  gaunt  and  grim.  For  a  few  weeks,  only,  be- 
fore his  death  he  was  confined  to  his  bed. 

Thus  encompassed  and  overcome,  and  crucified 
by  robbery,  mendacity,  and  ingratitude,  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin  died  at  Oregon  City,  September  3, 
1857,  a  broken-hearted  man.  He  was  buried  in 
the  churchyard  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in 
Oregon  City,  where  his  body  now  lies.    The  stone 


158  Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 

which  marks  his  grave  bears  the  simple  inscrip- 
tion: 

"Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

DIED 

Sept.  3,  1857. 

Aged 

73  Years. 

The  pioneer  and  Friend  of  Oregon. 

Also  the  founder  of  this  City." 

Dr.  John  McLoughlin  is  not  the  only  great  char- 
acter in  history,  whose  memory  shall  live  for  all 
time,  but  whose  death  was  under  sad  circumstances 
and  whose  heart,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  was  then 
filled  with  thoughts  of  the  wrong-doings  and  the 
ingratitude  of  others. 

The  frontispiece  to  this  address  is  made  from  a 
photograph  of  a  daguerreotype  of  Dr.  McLough- 
lin taken  in  1856,  when  his  sorrows  and  tribula- 
tions were  beginning  to  tell  on  him.  This  daguer- 
reotype belongs  to  Mrs.  Josiah  Myrick,  of  Port- 
land, Oregon,  who  is  a  granddaughter  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin.  She  kindly  loaned  this  daguerreo- 
type to  have  the  photograph  made  of  it. 

Governor  L.  F.  Grover  was  elected  Governor  of 
Oregon  for  two  consecutive  terms.  He  resigned 
during  his  last  term  to  be  an  United  States  Senator, 
to  which  latter  office  he  was  elected.  He  is  now 
living  in  Portland,  at  an  advanced  age.  On  the 
fourteenth  of  September,  1905,  he  gave  me  a  writ- 
ten statement  of  an  incident  which  occurred  in  the 
last  sickness  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  In  this  state- 
ment Governor  Grover  said  that  he  was  riding  on 
horseback  through  Oregon  City  on  his  way  from 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  159 

Salem  to  Portland,  and  passed  down  the  street 
directly  in  front  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  home,  a 
few  days  before  his  death.  As  Governor  Grover 
was  giving  directions  for  the  care  of  his  horse,  a 
messenger  came  to  him  from  Dr.  McLoughlin 
requesting  Governor  Grover  to  call  at  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  house.  Governor  Grover  says :  "I 
found  him  extremely  ill.  ...  He  said  that 
he  was  dying  by  inches.  He  said:  'I  shall  live  but 
a  little  while  longer  and  this  is  the  reason  I  sent 
for  you.  I  am  an  old  man  and  just  dying,  and  you 
are  a  young  man  and  will  live  many  years  in  this 
country,  and  will  have  something  to  do  with  affairs 
here.  As  for  me,  I  might  better  have  been  shot'- 
and  he  brought  it  out  harshly- I  might  better  have 
been  shot  forty  years  ago.'  After  a  silence,  for  I 
did  not  say  anything,  he  concluded :  'than  to  have 
lived  here  and  tried  to  build  up  a  family  and  an 
estate  in  this  government.  I  became  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States  in  good  faith.  I  planted  all  I 
had  here  and  the  government  has  confiscated  my 
property.  Now  what  I  want  to  ask  of  you  is  that 
you  will  give  your  influence  after  I  am  dead  to 
have  this  property  go  to  my  children.  I  have 
earned  it  as  other  settlers  have  earned  theirs,  and 
it  ought  to  be  mine  and  my  heirs.'  I  told  him  I 
would  favor  his  request,  and  did." 

Justice  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's  Memory. 

Although  the  Donation  Land  Law  went  into  ef- 
fect September  27,  1850,  and  its  section  eleven  pro- 
vided that  the  "Oregon  City  Claim"  should  be  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Territory  for  the  establishment 


i6o  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

and  endowment  of  an  university,  nothing  was  done 
with  this  land  claim  until  1862,  three  years  after 
Oregon  became  a  state.  In  October,  1862,  the 
Legislative  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Oregon 
passed  an  act,  which  was  approved  by  the  Govern- 
or October  17,  1862,  conveying  and  confirming 
to  the  legatees  under  the  will  of  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
who  were  his  son,  David,  his  daughter,  Eloisa,  and 
her  husband,  Daniel  Harvey,  the  McLoughlin  or 
Oregon  City  land  claim,  excepting  Abernethy  Is- 
land, upon  the  condition  that  said  legatees  pay  to 
the  University  Fund  of  Oregon,  the  nominal  sum 
of  one  thousand  dollars.  This  was  forthwith  paid 
by  Daniel  Harvey  and  wife  in  gold  coin  although 
they  might  have  paid  it  in  greenbacks,  which  were 
then  at  a  large  discount.  As  the  eleventh  section 
of  the  Donation  Land  Law  provided  that  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  sale  of  said  Oregon  City  Claim  should 
be  applied  to  the  establishment  and  endowment  of 
an  university,  there  had  to  be  some  consideration 
paid  on  its  disposal  by  the  State.  All  this  oc- 
curred twelve  years  after  the  passage  of  the  Dona- 
tion Land  Law  and  five  years  after  the  death  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  During  all  those  twelve  years 
the  title  of  this  land  claim  was  in  the  Territory,  or 
State  of  Oregon.  It  stopped  the  growth  of  Oregon 
City.    It  impoverished  Dr.  McLoughlin. 

As  appears  by  the  Senate  and  House  Journals 
of  the  Legislative  Session  of  1862  said  act  passed 
the  Senate,  with  two  negative  votes  only,  and  there 
were  none  in  the  House  after  the  act  was  amended 
in  the  Senate  in  the  form  in  which  the  act  became 
a  law.    The  injustice  of  the  Donation  Land  Law 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  i6i 

to  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  appealed  to  the  people  of 
Oregon  in  the  twelve  years  which  had  elapsed 
since  the  passage  of  the  latter  law.  What  Dr. 
McLoughlin  had  done  for  Oregon  and  its  pioneers 
could  not  be  forgotten.  Justice  to  him  and  his 
memory  was,  at  last,  triumphant.  The  enactment 
and  approval  of  this  law  of  October  17,  1862,  was 
an  official  vindication  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  by 
the  Legislative  and  Executive  Departments  of  the 
State  of  Oregon,  of  all  the  false  statements  about, 
and  all  charges  against  him  made  by  Thurston 
and  others,  and  of  all  their  misrepresentations  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin  and  of  his  acts.  It  was  a  formal 
official  acknowledgment  of  the  injustice  of  the 
Oregon  Donation  Land  Law  to  Dr.  McLoughlin. 
It  was  an  official  recognition  of  his  sterling  quali- 
ties; of  his  humanity;  of  his  great  services  in  assist- 
ing the  early  immigrants;  of  what  he  had  done  for 
Oregon;  and  of  what  was  due  to  him  and  to  his 
memory  as  the  Father  of  Oregon.  It  cleared  his 
character  and  reputation  from  every  imputation  of 
unfairness,  injustice,  and  chicanery.  It  was,  in  ef- 
fect, an  official  condemnation  of  the  acts  of  the 
conspirators  against  him. 

In  1846  the  fame  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  as  a 
great  and  good  man  had  extended  to  Rome.  That 
year  Gregory  XVI,  then  the  Pope,  made  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin a  Knight  of  St.  Gregory  the  Great, 
of  civil  grade.  The  original  patent,  written  in 
Latin,  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  descendant  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin.  A  copy  in  English  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society.  The 
Pope  sent  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  the  Insignia  of  the 


1 62  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Order,  which  was  delivered  to  him  by  Archbishop 
Francis  N.  Blanchet  on  his  return  from  Europe  in 
August,  1847.  It  was  a  high  and  deserved  honor. 
But  without  it  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  one  of 
Nature's  knights  in  all  qualities  which  the  highest 
and  best  of  knights  should  have.  He  was  such  a 
knight,  sans  peur,  sans  reproche. 

Opinions  by  Dr.  McLoughlin's  Contemporaries. 

In  1887  the  people  of  Portland  determined  to 
raise  six  hundred  dollars  for  a  three-quarter  life- 
size  portrait  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  to  be  painted  by 
William  Coggswell,  the  artist,  to  be  owned  by  the 
Oregon  Pioneer  Association.  The  money  was 
raised  by  popular  subscription.  The  total  amount 
subscribed  was  nearly  double  the  sum  required. 
This  portrait  was  formally  presented  to  the  Associ- 
ation at  its  annual  meeting,  June  15,  1887.  Judge 
M.  P.  Deady  made  the  presentation  address.  He 
was  a  judge  for  forty  years  continuously  in  Ore- 
gon. A  part  of  the  time,  six  years,  he  was  on  the 
Oregon  Territorial  Supreme  Bench,  and  for  thirty- 
four  years  he  was  United  States  District  Judge  for 
Oregon,  after  Oregon  became  a  State.  In  his  pre- 
sentation address  Judge  Deady,  speaking  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin,'*^  said:  "The  man,  whose  portrait 
now  hangs  before  you,  came  to  this  country  from 
the  Atlantic  commissioned  as  Chief  Factor  and 
Governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  west  of 
the  Rocky  mountains.  He  was  clothed  with  abso- 
lute power.  .  .  .  He  was  the  ruler  of  this 
country,  and  had  the  peace  and  security  of  the  peo- 

^*  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1887,  p.  16. 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  163 

pie  in  his  hands.  He  was  distinguished  for  his 
justice  and  fair  dealing  with  the  Indians.  When 
the  immigration  came  he  was  distinguished  for 
kindness  and  hospitality.  He  always  literally 
obeyed  the  scriptural  injunction  to  feed  the 
hungry,  visit  the  sick  and  clothe  the  naked.  The 
maintenance  of  law,  order  and  justice  rested  on  his 
shoulders  and  he  was  equal  to  the  occasion. 

"The  people  of  Portland  have  thought  to  honor 
his  memory  by  having  his  portrait  painted  and  giv- 
ing it  to  the  Pioneer  Association,  to  be  taken  to  the 
fair  city  of  Salem  and  hung  in  the  State  Capitol, 
where  you  may  look  at  it  and  show  it  to  your  chil- 
dren, and  they  to  their  children,  and  say:  'This  is 
the  old  doctor,  the  good  doctor.  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin.'  Thirty  years  ago  he  laid  down  his 
life  at  the  Wallamet  Falls,  where  he  had  builded 
and  lived  since  1845,  somewhat  in  obscurity,  some- 
what in  sorrow,  somewhat  in  sadness  and  disap- 
pointment. But  the  political  strife  and  religious 
bigotry  which  cast  a  cloud  over  his  latter  days 
have  passed  away,  and  his  memory  and  figure  have 
arisen  from  the  mist  and  smoke  of  controversy,  and 
he  stands  out  today  in  bold  relief,  as  the  first  man 
in  the  history  of  this  country  -  the  Pioneer  of 
Pioneers." 

The  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  deemed  it  best 
to  present  this  portrait  to  the  State  of  Oregon.  This 
was  done  February  6,  1889,  at  a  joint  session  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  the  Oregon  Legislative  As- 
sembly held  for  the  purpose.  This  portrait  now 
hangs  in  the  Senate  chamber  of  the  State  Capitol 
at  Salem  in  the  place  of  honor,  immediately  back 


164  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

of  the  chair  of  the  President  of  the  Senate.  John 
Minto,  an  honored  pioneer  of  1844,  was  selected 
to  make  the  presentation  address.  In  this  address 
Mr.  Minto  said :  ^^  "In  this  sad  summary  of  such  a 
life  as  Dr.  McLoughlin's,  there  is  a  statement  that 
merits  our  attention,  which,  if  ever  proven  true  - 
and  no  man  that  ever  knew  Dr.  McLoughlin  will 
doubt  that  he  believed  it  true,  namely,  that  he  pre- 
vented war  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  -  will  show  that  two  of  the  greatest  nations 
on  this  earth  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude,  and  that 
Oregon  in  particular  is  doubly  bound  to  him  as  a 
public  benefactor.  .  .  .  It  is  now  twenty-six 
years  since  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  State 
of  Oregon,  so  far  as  restoration  of  property  to  Dr. 
McLoughlin's  family  could  undo  the  wrong  of 
Oregon's  land  bill,  gave  gladness  to  the  heart  of 
every  Oregon  pioneer  worthy  of  the  name.  All  of 
them  yet  living  now  know  that  (good  man  as  they 
believed  him)  he  was  better  than  they  knew.  They 
see  him  now,  after  the  strife  and  jealousies  of  race, 
national,  business,  and  sectarian  interests  are  al- 
layed, standing  in  the  centre  of  all  these  causes  of 
contention  -  a  position  in  which  to  please  all  par- 
ties was  simply  impossible,  to  maintain  which 
'only  a  good  man  could  bear  with  patience'  -  and 
they  have  adopted  this  means  of  conveying  their 
appreciation  of  this  great  forbearance  and  patient 
endurance,  combined  with  his  generous  conduct. 
Looking,  then,  at  this  line  of  action  in  the  light  of 
the  merest  glimpses  of  history  known  to  be  true 
by  witnesses  yet  living,  can  any  honest  man  wonder 

■^^  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1888,  p.  134. 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin  165 

that  the  pioneers  of  Oregon,  who  have  eaten  the 
salt  of  this  man's  hospitality  -  who  have  been  eye 
witnesses  to  his  brave  care  for  humanity  and  par- 
ticipators of  his  generous  aid  -  are  unwilling  to  go 
to  their  graves  in  silence,  which  would  imply  base 
ingratitude  -  a  silence  which  would  be  eloquent 
with  falsehood?" 

In  accepting  this  portrait,  on  behalf  of  the  State 
of  Oregon,  Gov.  Sylvester  Pennoyer,  also  an  Ore- 
gon pioneer,  who  served  two  consecutive  terms  as 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Oregon,  said :  ^^    "This 
gift  is  alike  creditable  to  the  venerable  men  of  your 
Association  in  its  bestowment  and  to  the  State  of 
Oregon  in  its  acceptance.     It  does  honor  to  the 
pioneers  of  Oregon,  because  it  shows  their  full 
appreciation  of  the  high  qualities  of  a  true  and 
noble  manhood;  and  the  placing  of  this  painting 
in  the  honorable  position  it  now  occupies  in  the 
senate-hall  of  the  state  capitol  evinces  a  like  ap- 
preciation on  the  part  of  the  representatives  and 
the  people  of  this  great  State.     Dr.  McLoughlin 
was,  indeed,  a  most  extraordinary  man.    Entrusted 
with  a  most  responsible  position  under  the  British 
flag  at  a  time  when  there  was  a  bitter  contest  for 
governmental  supremacy  in  Oregon,  it  was  the  un- 
doubted and  honorable  wish  and  prompting  of  his    \ 
heart  that  the  flag  of  his  country  might  continue 
to  wave  over  Oregon  soil,  and  yet  in  instances  re- 
peated without  number,  he  extended  the  hand  of 
charity  and  unstinted  aid  to  the  poor  immigrants 
of  the  contesting  people,  whose  advent  here  threat- 

"  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Aseociation  for  1888,  pp.  135, 
136. 


1 66  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ened  the  supremacy  of  his  government  over  the 
contested  territory.  While  he  was  loyal  to  his 
country  he  was,  as  became  his  lofty  character, 
more  loyal  to  his  conscience;  and  while  never  for- 
getting his  full  allegiance  as  a  Briton,  he  never 
forgot  his  higher  duty  as  a  man.  .  .  .  Then 
let  this  picture  of  the  grand  old  man,  whose  num- 
erous deeds  of  charity  are  inseparably  interwoven 
in  the  early  history  of  our  State,  ever  enjoy  the 
place  of  honor  it  now  holds;  and  when  our  chil- 
dren and  our  children's  children  shall  visit  these 
venerated  halls,  let  them  pause  before  the  portrait 
of  this  venerable  man  and  do  homage  to  his  mem- 
ory, who,  with  his  patriotic  devotion  to  his  coun- 
try and  his  devout  service  to  his  God,  crowned  the 
full  completeness  of  his  high  character  with  an 
unmeasured  love  for  his  fellow  men." 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  Rev.  H.  K.  Hines, 
D.D.,  a  Methodist  minister  who  came  to  Oregon 
in  1853,  ^^^  of  ^*is  memorable  address  delivered  at 
Pendleton,  December  10,  1897.  In  this  address 
Dr.  Hines  said  that  "Dr.  McLoughlin  should 
escape  the  traduction  of  sectarian  rancor  and  big- 
otry, .  .  was  perhaps  an  impossibility.  He 
certainly  did  not.  Of  course  all  could  see  at  the 
outset,  and  none  more  clearly  than  the  missionaries 
themselves,  that  the  attitude  he  assumed  towards 
the  American  missions  and  missionaries,  must 
needs  decide  the  success  of  their  work,  and 
even  the  very  inauguration  of  it.  .  .  .  Dr. 
McLoughlin  was  a  Christian,  professedly,  and  it 
does  not  lie  in  me  to  say  that  he  was  not  really 
and  truly.    At  this  time,  and  long  before,  and  for 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  167 

years  afterwards,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  England.  That  subsequently,  in  1841,  I  think, 
he  became  a  devout  member  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic church,  does  not,  to  my  mind,  take  from  or 
add  to  the  estimate  I  make  of  him  as  a  devout  be- 
liever in  that  form  of  religion  called  Christian- 
ity." And  speaking  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  treat- 
ment of  the  missionaries  of  all  denominations.  Dr. 
Hines  said:  "All  these  missionaries  came  while 
Dr.  McLoughlin  was  not  connected  with  any  of 
the  churches  they  represented.  His  treatment  of 
them  was  on  a  broader  and  higher  plane  than  that 
of  the  sectary.  It  was  that  of  the  humanitarian 
and  the  Christian,  and  it  continued  thus  even  after 
he  must  have  seen  that,  at  least,  the  missions  of  Mr. 
Lee  and  Dr.  Whitman  were,  in  the  order  of  events, 
gathering  about  themselves  the  elements  of  an 
American  civilization  that  indicated  what  the 
future  of  Oregon  would  be  -  what  it  has  long  since 
become."  And  referring  to  the  early  immigrants 
and  Dr.  McLoughlin's  treatment  of  them.  Dr. 
Hines  said:  "What  would  Dr.  McLoughlin  do? 
Would  he  shut  the  gates  of  his  fortress?  Would 
he  lock  the  doors  of  his  granaries?  Would  he  deny 
asylum  to  the  weary,  footsore,  famishing  immi- 
grants? What  would  he  do?  We  can  answer  by 
rehearsing  what  he  did.  He  forgot,  in  large  meas- 
ure, that  those  who  lay  at  his  door,  sick,  weary, 
poor,  and  almost  ready  to  die,  were  not  his  friends. 
He  fed  them  and  pointed  them  out  the  ways  in 
which  they  could  take  living  root  in  the  soil  of  that 
very  Oregon  which  was  the  covet  of  England,  and 
had  so  long  been  the  possession  of  his  own  Com- 


1 68  Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 

pany,  albeit  they  who  came  were  American  citi- 
zens, and  each  brought  an  American  flag  in  his 
heart  if  not  in  his  hand. 

"To  me  it  seems  evident  that  Dr.  McLoughlin 
clearly  saw  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the  struggle 
between  dilatory  and  procrastinating  diplomacy 
and  the  steady  tramp  of  the  growing  army  of  ox 
teams  that  slowly  swung  down  the  slopes  of  the 
mountains,  and,  in  his  humanity,  which  was  wider 
than  his  national  prejudices,  and  stronger  to  con- 
trol him  than  his  love  of  gain,  gave  the  final  cast 
of  his  own  act  to  humanity  and  peace,  rather  than 
to  gain  and  war.  I  cannot  here  trace  the  indi- 
vidual acts  that  demonstrate  this  general  conclu- 
sion, as  my  aim  has  been  rather  to  indicate  the  re- 
sults and  show  the  conclusions  of  history  than  to 
relate  its  incidents  and  chronicle  its  dates. 

"A  few  years  pass  on.  The  great  Company,  erst 
and  long  the  rulers  of  Oregon,  disown  the  acts 
and  reprove  the  conduct  of  this  man  of  men.  Ris- 
ing to  an  even  higher  altitude  of  resplendent  man- 
hood, with  a  magnificent  scorn  he  casts  down  his 
lofty  office,  with  its  salary  of  $12,000  a  year,  at  the 
feet  of  these  knights  of  the  counting-house  and 
ledger,  cuts  all  the  bonds  that  bind  him  to  their 
service,  comes  back  from  the  palaces  of  London  to 
the  green  woods  and  soft  plains  of  Oregon,  takes 
his  place  as  an  American  citizen  under  the  stars 
and  stripes,  and  thus  wins  the  place  of  imperish- 
able honor  and  fame  as  the  true  'Father  of  Ore- 
gon.' There  his  ablest  contemporaries  place  him. 
There  the  great  State  within  whose  bounds  he  died 
and  whose  foundations  he  laid,  by  the  voice  of  her 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  169 

legislature  and  her  chief  executive  has  crowned 
him.  There  history,  whose  verdict  I  record  to- 
night, and  with  which  my  own  heart  agrees,  en- 
shrines him  as  the  greatest  of  our  really  great 
pioneer  era." 

I  have  given  these  opinions  because  they  are 
those  of  men  who  personally  knew  Dr.  McLough- 
lin. And  years  after  his  death,  after  careful  con- 
sideration and  reflection,  they  have  properly  esti- 
mated him  and,  thus  remembering,  have  spoken 
truly  and  justly .°® 

Eulogy  upon  Dr.  McLoughlin. 

Like  many  others  of  the  world's  great  men.  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  had  many  characteristics,  ap- 
parently conflicting,  but  making  in  the  aggregate  a 
wonderful  and  harmonious  whole.  He  was  the 
autocrat  of  the  early  Oregon  Country,  yet  all  his 
feelings  and  political  sympathies  were  for  a  repub- 
lican form  of  government,  and  for  rule  by  the 
people,  and  for  personal  liberty;  he  was  a  trader, 
with  the  training  of  a  trader  and  of  a  business  man, 
yet  he  gave  credit,  without  security,  to  the  early 
pioneers,  because  he  was  a  humanitarian;  he  was 
quick  tempered  and  impulsive,  yet  he  was  courte- 
ous and  kind,  for  he  was  a  gentleman ;  he  was  stern 
and  severe  and  a  strict  disciplinarian,  yet  he  had 
a  sympathy  like  that  of  a  woman,  and  a  heart  as 
tender  and  susceptible  as  that  of  a  little  child. 

Whatever  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  did  to  or  for 
the  Oregon  settlers,  missionaries  and  immigrants, 

**  For  further  opiDions  of  contemporaries  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  see 
Document  S. 


lyo  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

he  did  to  every  citizen  of  Oregon,  man,  woman, 
and  child,  for  all  time,  then,  now,  and  to  come. 
In  honoring  him,  we  honor  ourselves.  To  fail  to 
honor  him  and  his  memory,  we  would  dishonor 
ourselves.  To  every  true,  honest  Oregon  pioneer, 
and  to  the  descendants  of  every  Oregon  pioneer, 
has  come  the  pleasing  and  loving  duty  of  letting 
the  whole  world  know  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  ac- 
tions and  character,  so  that  memory  of  him  and  his 
humanity  shall  never  perish.  The  time  will  come  - 
and  it  should  come  soon -when  a  magnificent  and 
stately  monument  will  be  erected  in  Oregon  in 
honor  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin.  But  it  must  be 
a  monument  of  such  size  and  beauty  as,  in  that 
manner,  to  show  the  appreciation  of  the  people 
of  Oregon  for  him,  and  of  the  good  and  noble 
deeds  of  this  grand  old  man. 

His  name  should  be  enrolled  in  the  Temple  of 
Fame  of  distinguished  Americans.  A  county  in 
each  of  the  states  of  Oregon  and  Washington 
should  be  named  for  him.  For  prior  to  March  2, 
1853,  what  is  now  the  State  of  Washington,  was 
a  part  of  the  Territory  of  Oregon,  and  Fort  Van- 
couver, where  his  noblest  deeds  were  performed, 
is  in  the  State  of  Washington.  That  State  would 
do  itself  great  honor  if  it  should  change  the  name 
of  Thurston  County  to  that  of  McLoughlin.  I 
am  glad  that  the  last  Legislative  Assembly  of  Ore- 
gon restored  the  name  of  Mt.  McLoughlin  to  that 
sublime,  snow-covered  mountain  in  Southern  Ore- 
gon, sometimes  called  Mt.  Pitt,  but,  prior  to  1838, 
named  for  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  by  the  early  resi- 
dents of  Oregon,  and  for  years  called  and  shown 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin  171 

on  the  maps  as  Mt.  McLoughlin.  It  will  forever 
be  known  by  his  name.  It  would  have  been 
appropriate  if  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Ore- 
gon had  changed  the  name  of  Mount  Hood  to  that 
of  Mount  McLoughlin,  for,  in  the  days  when  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  was  in  charge  at  Fort  Vancou- 
ver, it  was  the  custom  of  the  Indians,  in  what  is 
now  called  Eastern  Oregon  and  Eastern  Washing- 
ton, to  point  to  Mt  Hood  as  showing  near  where 
was  his  residence. 

Dr.  McLoughlin  died  more  than  forty-nine 
years  ago.  Under  the  canons  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  no  one  can  be  canonized  until  he  or 
she  has  been  dead  at  least  fifty  years.  If  I  may  do 
so  with  propriety,  I  suggest  that,  when  the  fifty 
years  have  passed,  those  in  proper  authority  in  that 
Church  cause  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  to  be  canon- 
ized, if  it  is  possible  to  do  so.  But  the  people  of 
Oregon,  as  a  people,  are  not  bound  by  this  canon. 
Already  the  memory  of  this  grand  old  man  is 
enshrined  in  their  hearts.  To  them  he  is  now  the 
patron  saint  of  Oregon,  without  regard  to  canon  or 
rules,  religion  or  sect. 

Of  all  the  names  and  titles  given  to,  or  bestowed 
upon  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  the  one  I  like  best  is 
"Father  of  Oregon;"  for  he  was,  and  is  truly,  the 
Father  of  Oregon.  And  it  enables  every  old,  true 
Oregon  pioneer,  and  every  son  and  daughter  of 
every  Oregon  pioneer,  and  his  and  her  descend- 
ants, to  the  remotest  generations,  to  speak  of  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  with  af  xtion  and  love,  with 
respect  and  veneration  as  Our  Father."  In  the 
past  the  fervent  prayers  of  these  grateful  pioneers 


172  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

were  made  in  his  praise  and  that  his  tribulations 
might  end  and  persecutions  of  him  might  cease. 
Their  tears  consecrated  his  martyrdom  and  his 
memory.  Today  the  hearts  of  the  survivors  and  of 
the  descendants  of  these  pioneers  quicken  at 
thoughts  of  v^hat  he  v^as  and  what  he  did;  and 
their  eyes  moisten  in  recalling  what  he  suffered 
and  what  he  endured  in  the  making  of  Oregon. 

Of  all  the  men  whose  lives  and  deeds  are  essen- 
tial parts  of  the  history  of  the  Oregon  Country,  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  stands  supremely  first -there  is 
no  second.  In  contemplating  him  all  others  sink 
into  comparative  insignificance.  You  may  search 
the  whole  world,  and  all  its  histories  from  the  be- 
ginning of  civilization  to  today,  and  you  will  find 
no  nobler,  no  grander  man  than  Dr.  John  Mc- 
Loughlin. His  life  and  character  illustrate  the 
kinship  of  man  to  God.  He  was  God-like  in  his 
great  fatherhood,  in  his  great  strength,  in  his  great 
power,  and  in  the  exercise  of  his  strength  and  of 
his  power;  he  was  Christ-like  in  his  gentleness,  in 
his  tenderness,  in  his  loving-kindness,  and  in  his 
humanity. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  DOCUMENTS 

REFERRED  TO  IN 

THE  TEXT 


DOCUMENT  A 

Article  J  of  the  Convention  between  the  United 
States  of  America  and  Great  Britain,  signed  at 
London,  October  20,  1818. 
"It  is  agreed  that  any  country  that  may  be 
claimed  by  either  party  on  the  north-west  coast 
of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains, 
shall,  together  with  its  harbors,  bays,  and  creeks, 
and  the  navigation  of  all  rivers  within  the  same,  be 
free  and  open  for  the  term  of  ten  years  from  the 
date  of  the  signature  of  the  present  convention,  to 
the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects,  of  the  two 
powers;  it  being  well  understood  that  this  agree- 
ment is  not  to  be  construed  to  the  prejudice  of  any 
claim  which  either  of  the  two  high  contracting 
parties  may  have  to  any  part  of  the  said  country, 
nor  shall  it  be  taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any 
other  power  or  state  to  any  part  of  the  said  coun- 
try; the  only  object  of  the  high  contracting  par- 
ties, in  that  respect,  being  to  prevent  disputes  and 
differences  among  themselves." 

DOCUMENT   B 

Convention  between  the  United  States  of  America 
and  Great  Britain,  signed  at  London,  August 
6,  1827. 

"Article  i.    All  the  provisions  of  the  third  ar- 


176  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

tide  of  the  convention  concluded  between  the 
United  States  of  America  and  his  majesty  the  king 
of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land, on  the  20th  of  October,  18 18,  shall  be,  and 
they  are  hereby,  further  indefinitely  extended  and 
continued  in  force,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  all 
the  provisions  of  the  said  article  were  herein 
specifically  recited. 

"Art.  2.  It  shall  be  competent,  however,  to 
either  of  the  contracting  parties,  in  case  either 
should  think  fit,  at  any  time  after  the  20th  of 
October,  1828,  on  giving  due  notice  of  twelve 
months  to  the  other  contracting  party,  to  annul 
and  abrogate  this  convention;  and  it  shall,  in  such 
case,  be  accordingly  entirely  annulled  and  abro- 
gated, after  the  expiration  of  the  said  term  of 
notice. 

''Art.  3.  Nothing  contained  in  this  convention, 
or  in  the  third  article  of  the  convention  of  the  20th 
October,  18 18,  hereby  continued  in  force,  shall 
be  construed  to  impair,  or  in  any  manner  affect, 
the  claims  which  either  of  the  contracting  parties 
may  have  to  any  part  of  the  country  westward  of 
the  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains." 


DOCUMENT   C 

Statement   concerning   merger   of  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  and  North-West  Company;  and  grant 
to  Hudson's  Bay  Company  of  1821  and  l8j8 
to  trade  in  the  Oregon  Country. 
A  great  enmity  arose  between  the  Hudson's  Bay 


Illustrative  Documents  177 

Company  and  the  North-West  Company.  In 
1 8 15  a  regular  war  broke  out  between  the  two 
companies,  which  was,  for  some  time  after,  openly 
carried  on.  In  1821  a  compromise  was  effected, 
by  which  the  North-West  Company  became  united 
with,  or  rather  merged,  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. In  connection  with  this  merger  the  British 
Parliament  July  2,  1821,  passed  an  act  entitled, 
"An  act  for  regulating  the  fur  trade  and  estab- 
lishing a  criminal  and  civil  jurisdiction  in  certain 
parts  of  North  America,"  containing  every  provi- 
sion required  to  give  stability  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  efficiency  to  its  operation.  Under 
this  act  of  Parliament,  the  King  was  authorized 
to  make  grants  or  give  licenses  for  the  exclusive 
privilege  of  trading  with  the  Indians  in  all  such 
parts  of  North  America,  not  being  parts  of  the  ter- 
ritories previously  granted  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  or  of  any  of  His  Majesty's  provinces  in 
North  America,  or  of  any  territories  belonging 
to  the  United  States  of  America;  "provided,  how- 
ever, that  no  such  grant  or  license  shall  be  given 
for  a  longer  period  than  twenty-one  years ;  that  no 
grant  or  license  for  exclusive  trade,  in  the  part  of 
America  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  which, 
by  the  convention  of  18 18  with  the  United  States, 
remained  free  and  open  to  the  subjects  or  citizens 
of  both  nations,  shall  be  used  to  the  prejudice  or 
exclusion  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  engaged 
in  such  trade;  and  that  no  British  subject  shall 
trade  in  those  territories  west  of  the  Rocky  moun- 
tains without  such  license  or  grant." 

December    21,    1821,    the    King    of    England 


ijS  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

granted  a  license  for  twenty-one  years,  to  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  and  to  W.  McGillivray, 
S.  McGillivray,  and  E.  Ellice  (representing  the 
North-West  Company)  "the  exclusive  privilege 
of  trading  vs^ith  the  Indians,  in  all  such  parts  of 
North  America,  to  the  northward  and  westward 
of  the  lands  and  territories  belonging  to  the  United 
States  of  America,  as  shall  not  form  part  of  any 
of  our  provinces  in  North  America,  or  of  any 
lands  or  territories  belonging  to  the  said  United 
States  of  America,  or  to  any  European  govern- 
ment, state,  or  power."  Said  grant  also  provided: 
"And  we  do  hereby  declare  that  nothing  in  this 
our  grant  contained  shall  be  deemed  or  construed 
to  authorize  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  or 
W.  McGillivray,  S.  McGillivray,  and  E.  Ellice, 
or  any  person  in  their  employ,  to  claim  or  exer- 
cise any  trade  with  the  Indians  on  the  north-west 
coast  of  America,  to  the  westward  of  the  Stony 
Mountains,  to  the  prejudice  or  exclusion  of  any 
citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America,  who  may 
be  engaged  in  the  said  trade:  Provided  always, 
that  no  British  subjects  other  than  and  except  the 
said  Governor  and  Company,  and  the  said  W.  Mc- 
Gillivray, S.  McGillivray,  and  E.  Ellice,  and  the 
persons  authorized  to  carry  on  exclusive  trade 
by  them  on  grant,  shall  trade  with  the  Indians 
within  such  limits,  during  the  period  of  this  our 
grant."  Under  this  license,  the  parties  to  whom 
it  was  granted  continued  their  operations  until 
1824,  when  the  claims  of  the  North-West  Com- 
pany were  extinguished  by  mutual  consent;  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  then  became  the  sole  pos- 


Illustrative  Documents  179 

sessor  of  the  privileges  conceded,  which  were  en- 
joyed by  that  body  until  the  expiration  of  the 
grant.  Previous  to  that  period,  1838,  a  new  grant 
was  made  to  the  Company,  entitled,  ''Crown  Grant 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  of  the  Exclusive 
Trade  with  the  Indians  in  certain  parts  of  North 
America,  for  a  term  of  twenty-one  Years,  and 
upon  Surrender  of  a  former  Grant." 

Said  grant  of  1838  provided:  "We  do  hereby 
grant  and  give  our  license,  under  the  hand  and 
seal  of  one  of  our  principal  secretaries  of  state,  to 
the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, for  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trading  with 
the  Indians  in  all  such  parts  of  North  America,  to 
the  northward  and  to  the  westward  of  the  lands 
and  territories  belonging  to  the  United  States  of 
America,  as  shall  not  form  part  of  any  of  our 
provinces  in  North  America,  or  of  any  lands  or 
territories  belonging  to  the  said  United  States  of 
America,  or  to  any  European  government,  state, 
or  power,  but  subject,  nevertheless,  as  hereinafter 
mentioned:  And  we  do,  by  these  presents,  give, 
grant,  and  secure,  to  the  said  Governor  and  Com- 
pany, and  their  successors,  the  sole  and  exclusive 
privilege,  for  the  full  period  of  twenty-one  years 
from  the  date  of  this  our  grant,  of  trading  with  the 
Indians  in  all  such  parts  of  North  America  as 
aforesaid  (except  as  hereinafter  mentioned)." 
Said  grant  of  1838  also  provided:  "But  we  do 
hereby  declare  that  nothing  in  this  our  grant  con- 
tained shall  be  deemed  or  construed  to  authorize 
the  said  Governor  and  Company,  or  their  succes- 
sors, or  any  persons  in  their  employ,  to  claim  or 


i8o  Dr.  John  McLoughltn 

exercise  any  trade  with  the  Indians  on  the  north- 
west coast  of  America,  to  the  westward  of  the 
Stony  Mountains,  to  the  prejudice  or  exclusion 
of  any  of  the  subjects  of  any  foreign  states,  who, 
under  or  by  force  of  any  convention  for  the  time 
being,  between  us  and  such  foreign  states,  respec- 
tively, may  be  entitled  to,  and  shall  be  engaged 
in,  the  said  trade."  ®" 

DOCUMENT  D 

Excerpts  from  Manuscript  Journal  of  Rev.  Jason 

Lee. 

The  following  excerpts  are  taken  from  the  man- 
uscript journal  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  all  of  which  is 
in  his  handwriting.  This  original  journal  is  now 
in  the  possession  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society. 

"Vancouver,    Teus[day],    Sept.    i6,    1834. 

Arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  3  o'clock  found  the 
Governor  and  other  Gentlemen  connected  with  the 
Fort  on  shore  waiting  our  arrival  and  conducted 
us  to  the  Fort  and  gave  us  food  which  was  very 
acceptable  as  we  had  eaten  our  last  for  breakfast. 
We  received  every  attention  from  these  Gentle- 
men. Our  baggage  was  brought  and  put  into  a 
spacious  room  without  consulting  us  and  the  room 
assigned  for  our  use  and  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
sleeping  again  within  the  walls  of  a  house  after  a 
long  and  fatiguing  journey  replete  with  menacies, 
deprivations,  toil  and  prosperity. 


"*  Greenhow's  History  of  Oregon  and  California,  pp.  323-325,  467- 
476  (second  edition,  1845)  ;  Martin's  Hudson  Bay  Territories  and  Van- 


Illustrative  Documents  i8i 

"I  have  been  much  delighted  today  in  viewing 
the  improvements  of  the  farm,  &c.  The  dinner 
was  as  good  and  served  in  as  good  stile  as  in  any 
gentleman's  house  in  the  east.  Fine  mus[k]  & 
water  melons  and  apples  were  set  before  us  which 
were  indeed  a  luxury  after  the  dry  living  we  have 
had  for  some  time.  After  dinner  took  a  turn  in 
the  Garden  and  was  astonished  to  find  it  in  such 
a  high  state  of  cultivation.  The  orchard  is  young 
but  the  quantity  of  the  fruit  is  so  great  that  many 
of  the  branches  would  break  if  they  were  not  pre- 
vented by  props. 

"Dr.  McLoughlin  the  Governor  of  the  Fort 
seems  pleased  that  Missionaries  have  come  to  the 
country  and  freely  offers  us  any  assistance  that  it 
is  in  his  power  to  render.  It  is  his  decided  opinion 
that  we  should  commence  somewhere  in  this  vicin- 
ity. O  Lord  do  thou  direct  us  in  the  choice  of  a 
location.  This  evening  received  the  joyful  intel- 
igence  that  Capt.  Wyeth's  Brig  was  in  sight.  It  is 
a  matter  of  joy  because  the  last  we  heard  it  was  on 
a  sand-bar  some  70  mi.  below  and  we  found  we 
should  be  obliged  to  go  down  for  our  goods.  Is 
not  the  hand  of  Providence  in  all  this?  Would  to 
God  that  I  could  praise  him  as  I  ought  for  his 
gracious  dealings  with  us.  It  is  now  past  11 
o'clock  and  I  must  commend  myself  to  divine  care 
and  retire. 

"Friday  Sep.  19,  1834. Daniel  and  myself 

are  now  on  the  bank  of  the  Willamette  River  a  lit- 
tle distance  from  Mr.  McKay's  place.  Wednesday 

couver's  Island,  pp.  151-165;  Bryce's  The  Remarkable  History  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  Chapters  XXIV   to  XXIX. 


1 82  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

expected  that  the  Brig  would  come  up  to  Van- 
couver and  we  should  receive  our  goods  there  but 
the  want  of  wind  prevented  her  coming  up.  Went 
on  board  just  at  night  and  ascertained  that  we 
could  not  get  them  until  the  cargo  was  taken  out. 
Slept  on  board  and  walked  to  the  Fort  3  mi.  in 
the  morning  and  commenced  preparations  for  a 
trip  up  the  Willamette.  Dr.  Mc.  made  all  the 
necessary  preparations  of  men,  boat,  food,  &c.  and 
we  were  off  about  4  o'clock.  Camped  upon  the 
sand.  Started  early  this  morning  and  came  to  the 
mouth  of  the  W.  [Willamette]  and  found  the  Brig 
there.  Took  breakfast  on  board.  Waited  while 
Capt's  Lambert,  Wyeth  &  Thing  explored  the  vi- 
cinity in  search  of  a  place  to  suit  their  business 
but  the[y]  could  find  none  to  please  them.  Left 
them  with  the  expectation  that  they  will  unload 
some  of  their  goods  and  arms  at  or  near  the  place 
where  they  now  are.   Arrived  ^  past  i  o'clock." 

After  an  exploring  trip  up  the  Willamette 
River,  which  is  described  in  his  journal,  Jason  Lee 
sets  forth:  "Sat.  27  [Sept.].  Arrived  at  the  Fort 
g.  h.  found  our  brethern  well. 

"After  mature  deliberation  on  the  subject  of  our 
location  and  earnest  prayer  for  divine  direction  I 
have  nearly  concluded  to  go  to  the  W.  [Willam- 
ette]." 

"Sun.  28  Sep.  1834.  —  A.  M.  Assayed  to  preach 
to  a  mixed  congregation  English  French  scotch 
Irish  Indians  Americans  Half  Breeds  Japanese 
&c.  some  of  whom  did  not  understand  5  words  of 
english.  Found  it  extremely  difficult  to  collect  my 
thoughts  or  find  language  to  express  them  but  am 


Illustrative  Documents  183 

thankful  that  I  have  been  permited  to  plead  the 
cause  of  God  on  this  side  the  Ry.  Mountains  where 
the  banners  of  Christ  were  never  before  unfurled. 
Great  God  grant  that  it  may  not  be  in  vain  but  may 
some  fruit  appear  even  from  this  feeble  attempt 
to  labour  for  Thee. 

"Evening  Preached  again  but  with  as  little  lib- 
erty as  in  the  morning,  but  still  I  find  it  is  good  to 
worship  God  in  the  public  congregation." 

"Mon.  Sep.  29,  1834.  This  morning  began  to 
make  preparations  in  good  earnest  for  our  depar- 
ture to  the  W.  [Willamette]  and  after  dinner  em- 
barked in  one  of  the  Company's  boats  kindly 
maned  for  us  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  who  has  treated 
us  with  the  utmost  politeness,  attention  and  liber- 
ality. The  Gentlemen  of  the  Fort  accompanied 
us  to  the  boat  and  most  heartily  wished  us  great 
success  in  our  enterprise.  Arrived  at  the  lower 
mouth  of  the  W.  where  Capt.  Wyeth's  Brig  is  late 
in  the  evening."    .    .    . 

"Wednes[day]  Sep.  31,  1834.  This  morning 
put  Br's  D.  Lee  &  Edwards  on  shore  to  go  to  Mr. 
M  Kay's  place  to  get  horses  and  we  pursued  our 
course  up  the  river.  Met  Capt.  Wyeth  on  his  re- 
turn from  his  farm  and  shall  not  see  him  again  til 
summer.  Camped  on  a  small  prairie  about  9  mi. 
from  the  Falls  and  found  here  the  men  which  the 
Dr.  had  sent  with  the  cattle  he  has  lent  us  8  oxen 
8  cows  &  8  calves." 

After  November  9,  1834,  there  is  no  entry  in  this 
journal  until  August  18,  1837,  where  there  is  an 
entry  by  Jason  Lee,  saying  that  he  has  not  kept 
up  his  journal.     There  is  no  further  entry  until 


184  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

July  28,  1838,  which  was  written  at  North  Fork, 
Platte  River,  when  he  was  on  his  first  trip  to  the 
eastern  states.  He  says  in  his  journal  that  on  Feb- 
ruary 16,  1838:  "The  16  Feb.  [1838]  I  set  out  for 
Umpqua,  and  after  23  days,  of  toil  and  hard-ship 
reached  home  in  safety,  and  after  a  few  days  rest 
found  myself  rather  better  for  the  trip.  This  was 
encouraging,  considering  the  difficulties  encoun- 
tered such  as  being  drenched  in  rain  many  times, 
fording  creeks  high  enough  to  wet  our  feet,  sleep- 
ing in  wet  clothes,  and  blankets,  very  bad  roads 
and  sometimes  hard  marching,  &c.  The  subject  of 
the  necessity  of  some  one  of  the  Mission  Family 
visiting  the  U.  S.  had  been  agitated  during  the 
winter,  and  it  was  at  length  decided  by  a  majority 
that  it  was  expedient  for  me  to  go.  Previous  to 
leaving  for  Umpqua,  I  had  written  Dr.  McLough- 
lin, requesting  a  passage,  in  the  companies  Boats, 
with  himself  by  the  Hudson  Bay  route.  This  I 
greatly  preferred  to  the  route  I  came,  as  less 
fatiguing,  less  dangerous,  better  calculated  to  re- 
store my  debilitated  system,  and  much  more  likely 
to  afford  new,  interesting  and  useful  information. 
The  answer  was  near  when  I  left,  and  was  to  be 
brought  me  by  a  man,  who  was  to  overtake  us  the 
second  day,  but  by  mistake  he  sent  it  to  my  house, 
hence  I  did  not  get  it  till  my  return.  The  Dr. 
could  not  grant  my  request,  and  expressed  himself 
'doubly  mortified;'  because  he  could  not  do  me  the 
favour,  and  should  also  be  deprived  of  my  com- 
pany." The  remainder  of  the  journal  is  taken  up 
with  the  account  by  Jason  Lee  of  his  trip  East. 
March  26,  1838,  there  is  an  entry  that  he  left  the 


Illustrative  Documents  185 

Mission  House  on  the  Willamette  for  the  United 
States.  March  28  he  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver. 
On  April  4  he  left  Fort  Vancouver  in  company 
with  a  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  party  bound  for 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  rest  of  the  journal  is 
taken  up  with  his  trip  Eastward.  The  last  entry 
in  his  journal  says  that  on  July  17,  1838,  he  was 
at  Sweet  Water  River. 


DOCUMENT    E 

Rev.  Jason  Lee's  visit  to  the  Eastern  States  in 
18 j8;  and  his  Report  to  the  Missionary  Board 
at  New  York  in  1 8 44. 

On  arriving  in  the  Eastern  States  in  1838  Rev. 
Jason  Lee  seems  to  have  become  imbued  with  the 
zeal  and  fervor  of  an  evangelist  in  regard  to  chris- 
tianizing the  Oregon  Indians,  and  the  necessity 
of  more  missionaries  in  Oregon.  Rev.  Dr.  Hines 
in  his  Missionary  History  of  the  Pacific  North- 
west^ p.  194,  says:  "Mr.  Lee  devoted  the  winter  of 
1838  and  the  summer  of  1839  to  traveling  and  de- 
livering missionary  addresses  in  the  cities  and 
larger  towns  of  the  Atlantic  states.  He  was  ac- 
companied in  his  journeys  by  the  two  Indian  boys, 
Wm.  Brooks  and  Thomas  Adams,  brought  with 
him  from  his  missionary  school  in  Oregon,  whose 
presence  and  intelligent  speeches  added  greatly 
to  the  popular  enthusiasm.  Lee's  appeals  were 
irresistible.  The  fire  of  his  zeal  caught  on  the 
altars  of  the  church  everywhere.  Oregon  and  the 
Oregon  Mission  fired  the  heart  of  the  church  as  no 


1 86  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

mission  ever  did  before.  The  age  of  apostolic  fer- 
vor seemed  to  have  returned,  and  Lee  was  in  the 
eye  of  the  church  like  the  great  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles  building  on  no  other  man's  foundation. 
The  thought  of  distant  wilds,  where  uncounted 
red  men  waited  and  longed  for  deliverance  from 
the  darkness  of  heathenism  that  had  wrapped  all 
their  race  for  all  these  ages  became  an  ever  present 
vision  to  the  church  of  the  United  States."  In  this 
History,  p.  195,  Dr.  Hines  also  says:  "Poverty 
donated  its  little;  wealth  gave  its  'gold,  frankin- 
cense, and  myrrh.'  .  .  .  The  culture  of  Boston 
responded;  the  pride  of  New  York  cast  its  jewels 
into  the  treasury.  The  staid  sobriety  of  Philadel- 
phia wept  and  shouted  and  gave.  Baltimore  out- 
did the  renown  of  her  ancient  missionary  fame. 
Lee,  erst  the  lumberman  of  Canada,  later  the  pio- 
neer missionary,  who  had  dipped  his  banner  in  the 
spray  of  the  Pacific  was  the  hero  of  the  hour."  But 
in  his  oral  report  to  the  Missionary  Board  in  July, 
1844,  after  quoting  the  following  from  the  letter 
of  a  complaining  fellow  missionary  who  went  to 
Oregon  on  the  Lausanne:  "And  indeed  they  [the 
Indians]  have  no  life  or  energy  and  are  a  melan- 
choly, doomed  race,"  Jason  Lee  said:  "I  think 
this  is  in  part  true,  the  Indians  on  the  Willamette 
will  become,  as  a  distinct  race,  extinct.  But  I 
think  there  will  be  more  Indian  blood  through 
amalgamation,  running  in  the  veins  of  white  men 
a  hundred  years  hence,  than  would  have  been  run- 
ning in  the  veins  of  the  Indians,  if  they  had  been 
left  to  themselves." 

In  July,   1844,  Rev.  Jason  Lee  made  an  oral 


Illustrative  Documents  187 

report  to  the  Missionary  Board  in  New  York. 
This  report  was  not  reduced  to  writing  in  full  but 
a  brief  statement  of  it  was  made.  A  copy  of  this 
report,  as  reduced  to  writing,  corrected  by,  and  in 
Jason  Lee's  handwriting,  is  in  the  possession  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society.  The  principal  seri- 
ous charges  made  against  Jason  Lee,  and  which 
caused  his  summary  removal  as  Superintendent 
of  the  Oregon  Methodist  Mission,  had  been  made 
secretly,  and  without  notice  to  him,  by  members 
of  the  Oregon  Mission.  Lee  answered  these 
charges  in  detail,  occasionally  with  some  indigna- 
tion. These  charges  against  Jason  Lee  were:  us- 
ing the  Mission's  funds  for  speculation  for  his  own 
use;  misuse  of  Mission  funds;  and  failure  to  re- 
port concerning  the  property  of  the  Mission. 

In  this  report  Jason  Lee  said  of  certain  Metho- 
dist missionaries: 

"In  one  of  Bro.  Abernethy's  letters,  he  tells  you 
that  the  Superintendent  [Jason  Lee]  refused  to 
send  the  report  of  the  state  of  the  property  home. 
There  is  some  error  in  this.  I  cannot,  I  will  not, 
believe  that  A.  intended  to  charge  me  with  oppos- 
ing the  sending  of  that  report. 

"Before  I  had  left  Oregon  I  was  aware  that  Bro. 
Hines  had  written  to  the  Board.  He  had  read 
part  of  his  communication  to  some  persons,  who 
had  hinted  to  me  about  it.  He  started  from  Ore- 
gon with  me,  and  I  was  in  hopes  we  should  have 
met  face  to  face  before  this  Board.  He  returned, 
however,  from  the  Sandwich  Islands  to  Oregon. 

"Bro.  Kone  complains  of  my  treatment  of  him, 
and  professes  to  know  my  secret  reasons  for  wish- 


1 88  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ing  to  keep  all  in  the  field.  I  never  had  any  secret 
reasons.  .  .  .  Bro.  Kone  by  his  injudicious  re- 
marks caused  great  excitement  among  the  laymen, 
and  made  much  difficulty. 

"He  considered  Dr.  Richmond  his  enemy  be- 
cause he  had  so  declared  himself,  and  sent  word  to 
him  [Mr.  Lee]  that  he  was  his  antagonist.  And 
he  hoped  as  they  had  heard  his  enemy  they  would 
hear  him. 

"Of  Bro.  Frost  I  cannot  say  much.  He  has 
made  no  thorough  efifort  to  bring  sinners  to  God. 
I  mean  such  an  effort  as  would  render  it  probable 
that  these  Indians  could  not  be  benefited  by  the 
Gospel." 

In  this  report  Jason  Lee  also  spoke  of  some 
other  Methodist  missionaries  who  had  made 
charges  against  him,  without  giving  their  names. 

As  the  Board  seems  to  have  exonerated  Jason 
Lee  from  all  charges,  it  must  have  found  that  these 
charges  made  in  Oregon  were  untrue,  or  un- 
founded, or  not  justified.  Exonerating  Jason  Lee 
was,  in  effect,  condemning  those  persons  who  made 
the  charges,  and  finding  that  their  charges  were 
false.  In  this  report  Rev.  Jason  Lee  also  said: 
"When  the  Board  sent  out  its  last  large  reinforce- 
ment, its  object  in  my  view  and  I  believe  in  theirs 
was  that  Methodism  should  spread  throughout 
Oregon;  for  what  purpose  else,  I  ask,  did  so  large 
a  number  of  laymen  go  out?  If  it  was  only  to 
form  one  or  two  stations,  it  appears  to  me  that  both 
the  Board  and  myself  as  their  agent  must  have 
taken  leave  of  our  senses.  If  my  associates  had 
stood  firm  to  their  post,  and  persevered  willingly 


Illustrative  Documents  189 


in  the  work  consigned  them,  I  have  not  a  doubt 
but  far  more  favorable  accounts  w^ould  have 
reached  you  from  that  distant  country.  The  plans 
I  assert  v^ere  well  formed  and  had  I  been  sustained 
the  object  v^ould  have  been  accomplished.  A  great 
mistake  was  made  in  selecting  some  of  those  who 
were  sent  out.  I  allude  not  to  the  number  but  the 
qualifications  of  certain  individuals.  I  forewarned 
the  Oregon  Committee  that  if  the  persons  who  ap- 
plied for  situations  were  not  examined  by  a  proper 
committee  the  plan  would  fail.  Such  proved  to  be 
the  case.  As  proof  I  aver  that  we  had  not  reached 
our  first  stopping  place  in  South  America,  before 
some  desired  to  return  to  the  United  States,  and 
even  after  touching  at  the  S.  [Sandwich]  Islands 
before  we  had  reached  Oregon  one  wanted  to  re- 
turn and  secure  the  Chaplaincy  at  the  Islands.  I 
have  had  much  to  contend  with,  and  I  regret  that 
men  of  more  steadfast  minds  had  not  been  chosen. 
Such  persons  do  more  injury  to  a  distant  Mission 
than  they  do  good,  and  no  one  knows  the  difficul- 
ties I  have  had  to  pass  through." 

In  this  report  Rev.  Jason  Lee  said  further:  "He 
[Dr.  McLoughlin]  is  a  Catholic.  Previous  to  the 
Priests  going  there,  I  was  his  intimate  friend,  -  his 
confidant.  Such  was  my  influence  with  the  Cana- 
dian part  of  the  settlement,  that  they  would  have 
been  pleased  to  give  me  their  church  and  have  no 
Priest  come.  Since  my  return  I  have  not  time  to 
instruct  their  children  as  we  used  to  do,  and  the 
Priests  have  taken  them." 


ipo  -Or.  John  McLoughlin 


DOCUMENT    F 

Excerpts  from  Narrative  of  Commodore  Charles 
Wilkes  J  U.  S.  N.^  published  in  Philadelphia  in 

1845. 

Commander  Charles  Wilkes  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  (afterwards  Commodore)  had  charge  of  an 
exploring  expedition  during  the  years  1838- 1842, 
which  came  to  the  Oregon  Country  in  1841.  His 
squadron  consisted  of  six  vessels,  which  arrived 
at  Puget  Sound  in  1841.  He  left  his  ships  at 
Puget  Sound  and  came  overland  to  Vancouver  in 
May,  1 841.  In  his  narrative  of  his  exploring  ex- 
pedition, published  in  1845,  Wilkes  says,  (vol. 
IV,  p.  327)  :  "He  [Dr.  McLoughlin]  is  a  tall 
fine-looking  person,  of  a  very  robust  frame,  with 
a  frank,  manly,  open  countenance,  and  a  florid 
complexion;  his  hair  is  perfectly  white.  He  gave 
us  that  kind  reception  we  had  been  led  to  expect 
from  his  well  known  hospitality.  He  is  of  Scotch 
parentage,  but  by  birth,  a  Canadian,  enthusiastic 
in  disposition,  possessing  great  energy  of  charac- 
ter, and  extremely  well  suited  for  the  situation  he 
occupies,  which  requires  great  talent  and  industry. 
He  at  once  ordered  dinner  for  us,  and  we  soon 
felt  ourselves  at  home,  having  comfortable  rooms 
assigned  us,  and  being  treated  as  part  of  the  estab- 
lishment." And  on  page  331  he  says:  "The  liber- 
ality and  freedom  from  sectarian  principles  of  Dr. 
M'Loughlin  may  be  estimated  from  his  being  thus 
hospitable  to  missionaries  of  so  many  Protestant 
denominations,  although  he  is  a  professed  Cath- 


Illustrative  Documents  191 


olic,  and  has  a  priest  of  the  same  faith  officiating 
daily  at  the  chapel.  Religious  toleration  is  al- 
lowed in  its  fullest  extent.  The  dining-hall  is 
given  up  on  Sunday  to  the  use  of  the  ritual  of  the 
Anglican  Church,  and  Mr.  Douglass  or  a  mission- 
ary reads  the  service.  .  .  .  Messrs.  Griffith  and 
Clarke  were  entirely  disappointed  in  finding  self- 
support  here,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  kindness 
of  Dr.  M'Loughlin,  who  took  them  in,  they  would 
have  suffered  much.  They  were  advised  to  settle 
themselves  on  the  Faulitz  Plains,  where  I  have 
understood  they  have  since  taken  land,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  acquiring  quite  respectable  farms." 

June  3,  1841,  Wilkes  left  Vancouver  to  make 
an  exploring  trip  up  the  Willamette  Valley.  In 
his  account  of  this  trip  he  says  in  his  narrative, 
(vol.  IV,  pp.  343-344)  :  "We  reached  the  falls 
about  noon,  where  we  found  the  missionary  station 
under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Waller.  .  .  . 
There  was  a  petty  dispute  between  Mr.  Waller  and 
the  [Hudson's  Bay]  Company,  and  he  complained 
of  them.  It  seems  that  the  Company  refuse  to  buy 
any  beaver-skins,  except  from  the  hunters  and 
trappers;  and  he  accuses  them  of  monopoly  in 
consequence.  The  Company,  on  the  other  hand, 
say  that  they  have  no  idea  of  selling  goods  out  of 
their  own  stores,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  others 
to  enter  into  competition  with  them;  and  that  they 
will  spare  no  expense  to  keep  the  trade,  as  long  as 
they  can,  in  their  own  hands.  This  is  certainly  not 
unfair.  I  cannot  help  feeling  it  is  quite  unsuited 
to  the  life  of  a  missionary,  to  be  entering  into  trade 
of  any  kind.    To  embark  in  traffic  must,  I  think, 


19-  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

tend  to  destroy  the  usefulness  of  a  missionary,  or 
divert  his  attention  from  the  great  cause  in  which 
he  is  engaged.  I  am  very  far  from  attaching  any 
blame  on  this  account  to  the  missionaries,  whose 
avowed  object  is  to  teach  the  arts  of  civilization, 
as  well  as  the  Word  of  God,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  they  are  doing  all  in  their  power  to  promote 
the  latter  object;  but  I  am  disposed  to  think,  that 
any  complaints  against  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
for  endeavouring  to  keep  the  trade  in  their  own 
hands,  comes  with  an  ill  grace  from  the  members 
of  a  Mission  who  are  daily  receiving  the  kindest 
attentions  and  hospitality  from  its  officers."  In 
vol.  IV,  p.  351,  he  says:  "The  lands  of  the  Meth- 
odist Mission  are  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Wil- 
lamette river,  on  a  rich  plain  adjacent  to  fine  for- 
ests of  oak  and  pine.  They  are  about  eight  miles 
beyond  the  Catholic  Mission,  consequently  eight- 
een miles  from  Champooing,  in  a  southern  direc- 
tion. .  .  .  We  had  the  expectation  of  getting  a 
sight  of  the  Indians  on  whom  they  were  inculcat- 
ing good  habits  and  teaching  the  word  of  God;  but 
with  the  exception  of  four  Indian  servants,  we 
saw  none  since  leaving  the  Catholic  Mission.  On 
inquiring,  I  was  informed  that  they  had  a  school 
of  twenty  pupils,  some  ten  miles  distant,  at  the 
mill ;  that  there  were  but  few  adult  Indians  in  the 
neighborhood;  and  that  their  intention  and  prin- 
cipal hope  was  to  establish  a  colony,  and  by  their 
example  to  induce  the  white  settlers  to  locate  near 
those  over  whom  they  trusted  to  exercise  a  moral 
and  religious  influence." 

In  vol.  IV,  p.  352,  he  says:    "The  next  day  the 


Illustrative  Documents  193 

gentlemen  of  the  Mission  proposed  a  ride  to  what 
they  term  'the  Mill,'  distant  about  nine  miles,  in  a 
southeast  direction.  .  .  .  We  reached  'the  Mill' 
by  noon,  which  consists  of  a  small  grist  and  saw 
mill  on  the  borders  of  an  extensive  prairie.  They 
are  both  under  the  same  roof,  and  are  worked  by 
a  horizontal  wheel.  .  .  .  From  the  number  of 
persons  about  the  premises,  this  little  spot  had  the 
air  and  stir  of  a  new  secular  settlement;  and  I 
understood  that  it  is  intended  to  be  the  permanent 
location  of  the  Mission,  being  considered  more 
healthy  than  the  bank  of  the  Willamette.  The 
missionaries,  as  they  told  me,  have  made  individ- 
ual selections  of  lands  to  the  amount  of  one  thou- 
sand acres  each,  in  prospect  of  the  whole  country 
falling  under  our  laws." 

On  page  355  of  the  same  volume  he  says :  "I  am 
aware  that  the  missionaries  come  out  to  this  coun- 
try to  colonize,  and  with  the  Christian  religion  as 
their  guide  and  law,  to  give  the  necessary  instruc- 
tion, and  hold  out  inducements  to  the  Indians  to 
quit  their  wandering  habits,  settle,  and  become 
cultivators  of  the  soil.  This  object  has  not  been 
yet  attained  in  any  degree,  as  was  admitted  by  the 
missionaries  themselves;  and  how  it  is  to  be  ef- 
fected without  having  constantly  around  them 
large  numbers,  and  without  exertions  and  stren- 
uous efforts,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conceive.  I  cannot 
but  believe,  that  the  same  labour  and  money  which 
have  been  expended  here,  would  have  been  much 
more  appropriately  and  usefully  spent  among  the 
tribes  about  the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  who  are 
numerous,  and  fit  objects  for  instruction."    And  on 


194  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

page  356  Commander  Wilkes  says:  "Three  years 
since,  O'Neill  came  to  the  valley  with  only  a  shirt 
to  his  back,  as  he  expressed  it;  he  began  by  work- 
ing part  of  this  farm,  and  obtained  the  loan  of  cat- 
tle and  other  articles  from  Dr.  M'Loughlin,  all 
of  which  he  has,  from  the  natural  increase  of  his 
stock  and  out  of  his  crops,  since  repaid.  He  has 
bought  the  farm,  has  two  hundred  head  of  stock, 
horses  to  ride  on,  and  a  good  suit  of  clothes,  all 
earned  by  his  own  industry;  and  he  says  it  is  only 
necessary  for  him  to  work  one  month  in  the  year 
to  make  a  living;  the  rest  of  the  time  he  may  amuse 
himself.  He  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of  Dr. 
M'Loughlin,  and  the  generous  aid  he  had  afforded 
him  in  the  beginning." 

The  Peacock,  one  of  the  vessels  of  the  squadron, 
was  wrecked  July  18,  1841,  on  a  spit  near  Cape 
Disappointment  on  the  north  side  of  the  entrance 
to  the  Columbia  River,  ever  since  known  as  Pea- 
cock Spit.  The  vessel  was  a  total  loss.  Com- 
mander Wilkes  says  that  the  crew  of  the  Peacock 
were  supplied  with  clothing  through  the  kindness 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  the  officers  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company.  Wilkes  further  says  that 
"every  facility  has  been  at  all  times  extended  [by 
Dr.  McLoughlin]  to  newcomers  and  settlers;  it  is 
sufficient  that  they  are  of  good  character,  and  the 
use  of  cattle,  horses,  farming  utensils,  and  supplies, 
is  invariably  extended  to  facilitate  their  opera- 
tions, until  such  time  as  they  are  able  to  provide 
for  themselves."  At  the  time  of  the  wreck  of  the 
Peacock,  there  was  lying  at  Astoria  the  American 
brig  Thomas  H.  Perkins.    She  was  under  charter 


Illustrative  Documents  195 


to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Dr.  McLoughlin 
readily  agreed  to  surrender  the  charter  party  for  a 
small  consideration,  if  the  goods  he  had  on  board 
were  delivered  at  Fort  Vancouver.  This  Wilkes 
agreed  to  and  purchased  the  brig.  He  changed 
her  name  to  the  "Oregon."  In  August,  1841,  the 
Oregon  was  taken  to  Fort  Vancouver  to  be  re- 
paired and  outfitted.  In  the  meantime  Wilkes 
proceeded  slowly  up  the  Columbia  River  in  the 
naval  gun-brig  Porpoise,  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty  tons,  making  a  survey  of  the  river.  The 
Porpoise  arrived  at  Fort  Vancouver  August  28, 
and  remained  there  until  September  14,  1841. 
The  expedition  was  treated  with  kindness  and 
courtesy  while  at  Fort  Vancouver. 

Fresh  beef  seems  to  have  been  scarce  even  in 
1 84 1.  Wilkes  in  his  narrative  says  that  on  Sep- 
tember 27,  1 841,  the  Porpoise  was  at  Puget's  Is- 
land, near  Cathlamet.  Here  he  was  joined  by 
Michel  La  Framboise,  in  the  employ  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  "who  brought  a  supply  of 
fresh  beef  for  the  crew,  which  they  were  much 
in  need  of."  On  leaving  the  Columbia  River, 
Wilkes  addressed  a  letter  from  Baker's  Bay,  dated 
October  5,  1841,  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  James 
Douglas  as  Chief  Factors  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  giving  thanks  "for  the  important  aid 
and  facilities  which  you  have  afforded  the  Expe- 
dition on  all  occasions,  for  carrying  out  the  object 
of  our  visit  to  this  part  of  the  world;"  and  saying, 
"be  assured  it  will  prove  a  very  pleasing  part  of  my 
duty  to  make  a  due  representation  of  it  to  my  gov- 
ernment." And  also  saying:  "Your  personal  kind- 


196  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ness  and  friendly  attention  to  myself  and  officers, 
from  our  first  arrival,  and  also  to  Captain  Hud- 
son and  his  officers  after  the  wreck  of  the  Peacock, 
have  laid  me  under  many  obligations  which  I  trust 
it  may  be  at  some  future  day  in  our  power  to  re- 
turn." (Vol.  V,  p.  147) . 


DOCUMENT    G 

Letter  from  Henry  Brallier  to  Frederick  V ,  Hoi- 

man  of  October  2^^  IQOS- 

Since  I  delivered  my  address  on  McLoughlin 
Day,  I  have  received  the  following  letter.  The 
persons  referred  to  are  probably  a  small  party, 
who  came  to  Oregon  prior  to  1840.  There  were 
several  small  parties  of  immigrants  to  Oregon, 
who  came  prior  to  1842.  Robert  Shortess  came 
overland  in  1839  and  1840  to  Oregon  with  one  of 
these  parties. 

"Seaside,  Oct.  27,  1905." 
"Mr.  Frederick  V.  Holman, 

"Portland,  Oregon. 
"Dear  Sir:  In  the  Sunday  Oregonian  of  the  15th 
of  this  month  I  see  an  interesting  account  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  but  one  act  of  his  that  showed  his 
human  kindness,  I  have  never  seen  in  print.  This 
a  man  by  the  name  of  Marechell  told  me.  He  was 
an  old  Hudson's  Bay  man  who  died  here  in  his 
eighty-sixth  year.  He  could  not  recollect  the 
exact  year,  but  it  was  a  year  or  two  after  Wyeth 
came,  the  emigrants  got  lost  in  the  head  waters  of 
Snake  River,  and  would  have  all  perished  but  the 
Indians  brought  word  from  one  tribe  to  another 


Illustrative  Documents  197 


about  them  being  there,  until  it  reached  Fort  Van- 
couver.    When  the  Doctor  heard  it,  he  rushed 
around  like  one  wild  and  called,  'Where  is  Mare- 
chelll    Where  is  La  Framboise.'    He  started  them 
with  a  lot  of  provisions  in  their  canoes,  with  some 
others  to  help  to  the  Cascades,  there  to  pack  them 
over,  then  get  them  in  their  canoes  again,  take  them 
to  The  Dalles,  and  there  they  got  ponies  to  pack 
them  on  their  journey  to  the  emigrants,  a  weary 
trip.  And  after  some  two  weeks'  trip,  they  found 
the  emigrants  encamped  in  a  small  valley,  there 
still  to  live  a  short  time  and  then  starve  to  death. 
He  said  if  ever  it  tried  a  man's  soul,  then  it  did  his. 
The  poor  women  came  running  to  him,  fell  on  their 
knees,  hugging  them  and  crying.    Men  crying  and 
blessing  them  and  the  Doctor  for  sending  them. 
I  often  think  if  there  is  an  upper  seat  around  the 
throne  of  God,  that  the  Doctor  and  some  of  those 
men  that  were  so  kind  to  others,  are  there  now. 

"This  man  Marechell  came  with  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  when  he  was  12  years  of  age,  with 
his  father.  As  near  as  he  could  tell  he  was  about 
22  years  of  age  when  he  took  the  trip  to  find  the 
emigrants. 

"I  came  to  the  Coast  in  early  '52;  to  Oregon  in 
'58;  to  Astoria  in  '63,  and  to  Seaside  soon  after. 
So  I  knew  Marechell  well,  and  did  see  La  Fram- 
boise a  number  of  times.  So  what  Marechell  told 
me  I  believe  is  true. 

"Beg  pardon  if  this  intrudes  on  your  time  and 
patience. 

"Respectfully, 

"Henry  Brallier, 
"Seaside,  Oregon." 


198  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


DOCUMENT    H 

Shortess  Petition;  excerpts  from  Gray's  ^'History 
of  Oregon"  relating  to  Shortess  Petition;  and 
excerpt  from  speech  of  Samuel  R.  Thurston  in 
Congress,  December  20^  l8§0,  as  to  author  of 
Shortess  Petition. 

"To  the  honorable  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled: 

"We,  the  undersigned,  settlers  south  of  the 
Columbia  river,  beg  leave  respectfully  to  repre- 
sent to  your  honorable  body: 

"As  has  been  before  represented  to  your  honor- 
able body,  we  consider  ourselves  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  acknowledge  the  right  of  the 
United  States  to  extend  its  jurisdiction  over  us; 
and  the  object  of  the  present  memorial  is  to  ask 
that  the  protection  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment may  be  extended  to  us  as  soon  as  possible. 
Hitherto,  our  numbers  have  been  small,  and  the 
few  difHculties  that  arose  in  the  settlement  were 
speedily  and  satisfactorily  settled.  But  as  our  set- 
tlement increases  in  numbers,  so  our  difficulties  in- 
crease in  number  and  importance;  and  unless  we 
can  have  laws  to  govern  us  that  will  be  respected 
and  obeyed,  our  situation  will  be  a  deplorable  one. 
Where  the  highest  court  of  appeal  is  the  rifle, 
safety  in  life  and  property  cannot  be  depended  on. 
"The  state  of  the  country,  its  climate,  resources, 
soil,  productions,  &c.,  has  already  been  laid  before 


Illustrative  Documents  199 


your  honorable  body,  in  Captain  Wyeth's  memoir 
and  in  former  memorials  from  the  inhabitants  of 
this  place. 

"Laws  are  made  to  protect  the  weak  against  the 
mighty;  and  we  feel  the  necessity  of  them  in  the 
steps  that  are  constantly  taken  by  the  honorable 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  in  their  opposition  to  the 
improvement  and  enterprise  of  American  citizens. 
You  have  been  apprized  already  of  their  opposi- 
tion to  Captains  Wyeth,  Bonneville,  and  others; 
and  we  find  that  the  same  spirit  dwells  with  them 
at  the  present  day.  Some  years  ago,  when  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  owned  all  the  cattle  in 
Oregon,  they  would  not  sell  on  any  conditions; 
but  they  would  lend  their  cows  to  the  settler -he 
returning  to  the  company  the  cows  loaned,  with 
all  the  increase;  and,  in  case  of  the  death  of  a  cow, 
he  then  had  the  privilege  of  paying  for  it.  But, 
after  the  settlers,  at  great  risk  and  expense,  went 
to  California,  and  purchased  cattle  for  themselves, 
and  there  was  a  fair  prospect  of  the  settlement  be- 
ing supplied,  then  the  Hudson  Bay  Company 
were  willing  to  sell,  and  at  lower  rates  than  the 
settler  could  sell. 

"In  the  year  1841,  feeling  the  necessity  of  hav- 
ing mills  erected  that  could  supply  the  settlement 
with  flour  and  lumber,  a  number  of  the  inhabi- 
tants formed  themselves  into  a  joint  stock  com- 
pany, for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  growing 
wants  of  the  community.  [Many  of  the  farmers 
were  obliged  to  leave  their  farms  on  the  Willam- 
ette, and  go  six  miles  above  Vancouver,  on  the 
Columbia    River -making    the    whole    distance 


200  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

about  sixty  miles  -  to  get  their  wheat  ground,  at  a 
great  loss  of  time  and  expense.]  The  company 
was  formed,  and  proceeded  to  select  a  site.  They 
selected  an  island  at  the  falls  of  the  Willamette, 
and  concluded  to  commence  their  operations. 
After  commencing,  they  are  informed  by  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin, who  is  at  the  head  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company's  affairs  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
that  the  island  is  his,  and  that  he  (although  a  chief 
factor  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company)  claims  all 
the  lands  at  the  east  side  of  the  Willamette,  em- 
bracing the  falls  down  to  the  Klakamus  river,  a 
distance  of  about  two  miles.  He  had  no  idea,  we 
presume,  that  the  company  would  succeed.  How- 
ever, he  erected  a  shed  on  the  island,  after  the  stuff 
was  on  the  island  to  build  a  house,  and  then  gave 
them  permission  to  build  under  certain  restric- 
tions. They  took  the  paper  he  wrote  them,  con- 
taining his  conditions;  but  did  not  obligate  them- 
selves to  comply  with  the  conditions,  as  they  did 
not  think  his  claim  just  or  reasonable. 

"Many  projects  had  been  started  by  the  inhabi- 
tants, but,  for  want  of  means  and  encouragement, 
failed.  This  fate  was  predicted  for  the  Milling 
Company.  But,  after  much  labor  and  difficulty, 
they  succeeded  in  getting  a  saw  mill  erected,  and 
ready  to  run;  and  entered  into  a  contract  to  have 
a  grist  mill  erected  forthwith.  And  now,  as  they 
have  succeeded,  where  is  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany? Dr.  McLoughlin  employs  hands  to  get  out 
a  frame  for  a  saw  mill,  and  erect  it  at  the  Willam- 
ette falls ;  and  we  find,  as  soon  as  the  frame  is  up, 
the  gearing  which  has  been  made  at  Vancouver  is 


Illustrative  Documents  101 

brought  up  in  boats;  and  that  which  caused  a 
feeble  company  of  American  citizens  months  of 
toil  and  embarrassment  is  accomplished  by  the 
chief  factor  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  in  a  few 
weeks;  (he  has  men  and  means)  ;  and  it  is  said  by 
him,  that  in  two  weeks  his  mill  will  be  sawing. 
And  what  will  be  the  consequences?  Why,  if  the 
Milling  Company  sell  for  $15  per  thousand,  he 
can  sell  for  $12 ;  if  they  reduce  the  price  to  $10,  he 
can  come  to  $8,  or  $5,  or  $2  per  thousand.  He  says 
he  will  have  a  grist  mill  started  as  soon  as  he  gets 
the  saw  mill  in  operation. 

"All  the  wheat  raised  in  Oregon  they  are  anx- 
ious to  get,  as  they  ship  it  to  the  Russians  on  the 
Northwest  coast.  In  the  first  place,  they  measured 
the  wheat  in  a  half  bushel,  called  by  them  im- 
perial measure,  much  larger  than  the  standard 
measure  of  the  United  States;  this  not  answering, 
they  next  proceeded  to  kick  the  half  bushel  with 
the  foot,  to  settle  the  wheat;  then  they  brought  up 
a  measure  larger  than  the  former  one;  and  now 
they  fill  this  measure,  then  strike  it  three  times 
with  a  stout  club,  and  then  fill  it  up,  and  call  it  fair 
measure.  Against  such  proceedings  we  need  law 
that  will  be  respected  and  obeyed. 

"About  twelve  or  fourteen  years  ago  the  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  blasted  a  canal  a  few  feet  to 
conduct  water  to  a  mill  they  were  going  to  build, 
the  timber  for  which  is  now  lying  at  the  falls  rot- 
ting. They,  however,  abandoned  the  thing  alto- 
gether, and  built  their  mills  on  the  Columbia, 
about  six  miles  above  Fort  Vancouver,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river. 


202  Dr,  John  McLoughlin 

"In  the  year  1838,  agreeably  to  orders  left  by 
Mr.  Slacum,  a  house  was  erected  at  the  falls,  to  se- 
cure the  claim  for  him. 

"In  1840,  the  Methodist  mission  erected  build- 
ings at  the  falls,  and  stationed  two  families  there, 
and  made  a  claim  to  sufficient  land  for  their  build- 
ings, not  interfering  with  any  others  who  might 
wish  to  build.  A  short  time  previous  to  this.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  had  a  storehouse  erected  for  the 
company,  not  occupied,  however,  further  than  to 
store  wheat  and  other  articles  in,  and  as  a  trading 
house  during  the  salmon  season. 

"After  this,  in  1841,  a  shantee  was  erected,  and 
a  man  kept  at  the  falls,  whose  business  it  was  to 
trade  with  the  Indians  for  furs  and  salmon,  and 
look  out  for  the  Doctor's  claim,  he  said,  and  to 
forbid  persons  building  at  the  falls,  as  some  had 
built,  and  others  were  about  building.  This  man 
was,  and  still  is,  a  servant  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany. 

"During  the  years  1841  and  1842,  several  fam- 
ilies settled  at  the  falls,  when  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
who  still  resides  at  Fort  Vancouver,  comes  on  the 
ground,  and  says  the  land  is  his,  and  any  person 
building  without  his  permission  is  held  as  a  tres- 
passer. Without  reference  to  any  person's  right  or 
claim,  he  employs  a  surveyor  to  lay  out  the  plat; 
and  as  a  bill  was  before  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  to  grant  to  every  white  male  inhabitant  a 
mile  square,  he  has  a  mile  run  out  to  suit  his  views, 
and  lays  out  a  town  plat  at  the  falls,  and  calls  it 
Oregon  City.  And  although  some,  for  peace  sake, 
asked  him  for  the  lots  they  had  already  in  posses- 


Illustrative  Documents  203 

sion,  and  which  he  appeared  very  willing  to  grant, 
the  Doctor  now  felt  himself  secure,  and  posted  up 
the  annexed  paper,  (marked  A)  which  is  the  origi- 
nal ;  and  all  who  had  lots  were  required  to  pay  Mr. 
Hastings  five  dollars  for  a  deed  of  land  which  they 
knew  very  well  the  grantor  did  not  own,  and 
which  we  hope  he  never  will  own,  but  that  Con- 
gress will  pass  a  special  act  granting  to  each  man 
his  lot  and  improvements.  Those  that  applied 
received  (if  they  had  a  house  on  the  lot)  a  deed,  a 
copy  of  which  is  annexed,  (marked  B)  ;  if  they  had 
no  house,  a  bond  was  given  for  five  dollars,  a  copy 
of  which  is  annexed,  (marked  C).  To  those  that 
applied  and  paid  their  five  dollars,  all  was  right 
with  the  Doctor;  while  those  who  considered  his 
title  to  the  land  not  good,  and  that  therefore  he 
had  no  right  to  direct  who  should  build  and  who 
should  not,  had  their  lots  sold  to  others.  In  one 
case  the  purchaser  came  to  the  original  claimant, 
and  ordered  him  to  stop  digging  the  ground  which 
he  was  preparing  for  a  garden,  and  commanded 
him  to  remove  his  fences,  as  he  had  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin's  bond  in  his  pocket  for  the  lots;  and  if 
he  did  not  move  his  fence  he  would,  and  take  for- 
cible possession.  Those  who  desired  to  have  no 
difficulty,  and  did  not  apply  for  a  deed,  have  lost 
their  lots,  the  Doctor's  promise,  and  all.  And  Mr. 
Hastings  (the  Doctor's  agent)  is  now  offering  for 
sale  the  lots  on  which  part  of  the  mission  buildings 
stand;  and  if  he  succeeds  in  finding  a  purchaser, 
they  must  either  contend  or  lose  their  buildings. 

"Dr.    McLoughlin    had    held     claims    in  other 
places  south  of  the  Columbia  river  -  at  the  Tua- 


204  Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 

latin  plains  and  Klakamus  plains  he  had  huts 
erected,  to  prevent  others  from  building;  and  such 
is  the  power  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  that  many  per- 
sons are  actually  afraid  to  make  their  situation 
known,  thinking,  if  he  hears  of  it,  he  will  stop 
their  supplies.  Letters  were  received  here  from 
Messrs.  Ladd  &  Co.,  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  in 
answer  to  a  letter  written  by  the  late  Mr.  Ewing 
Young,  for  a  few  supplies,  that  orders  were  re- 
ceived, forbidding  the  company's  vessels  carrying 
any  goods  for  the  settlers  of  Oregon.  Every  means 
will  be  made  use  of  by  them  to  break  down  every- 
thing that  will  draw  trade  to  this  country,  or  en- 
able persons  to  get  goods  at  any  other  place  than 
their  store. 

"One  other  item,  and  we  are  done.  When  any 
United  States  Government  officers  of  distinction 
arrive,  Vancouver  is  thrown  open,  and  every  facil- 
ity afforded  them.  They  were  even  more  conde- 
scending to  the  settlers  during  the  time  the  explor- 
ing squadron  was  in  the  Columbia;  nothing  was 
left  undone  to  give  the  officers  a  high  opinion 
of  the  honorable  Hudson  Bay  Company.  Our  In- 
dian agent  is  entirely  dependent  on  them  for  sup- 
plies and  funds  to  carry  on  his  operations. 

"And  now  your  memorialists  pray  your  honor- 
able body,  that  immediate  action  of  Congress  be 
taken  in  regard  to  this  country,  and  good  and 
wholesome  laws  be  enacted  for  our  Territory,  as 
may,  in  your  wisdom,  be  thought  best  for  the  good 
of  the  American  citizens  residing  here. 

"And  your  memorialists  will  ever  pray. 

"Robert  Shortess,  A.   E.  Wilson,  William  C. 


Illustrative  Documents  205 

Remick,  Jeffrey  Brown,  E.  N.  Coombs,  Reuben 
Lewis,  George  Davis,  V.  Bennet,  J.  Rekener,  T.  J. 
Hubbard,  James  A.  O'Neil,  Jer.  Horregon,  Wil- 
liam McKarty,  Charles  Compo,  John  Howard, 
his  +  mark,  R.  Williams,  G.  Brown,  John  Turner, 
Theodore  Pancott,  A.  F.  Waller,  John  Hofstatter, 
G.  W.  Bellamy,  William  Brown,  A.  Beers,  J.  L. 
Parrish,  William  H.  Gray,  A.  D.  Smith,  J.  C. 
Bridges,  Aaron  Cook,  A.  Copeland,  S.  W.  Moss, 
Gustavus  Hines,  George  W.  LeBreton,  J.  R.  Robb, 
J.  L.  Morrison,  M.  Crawford,  John  Anderson, 
James  M.  Bates,  L.  H.  Judson,  Joel  Turnham, 
Richard  H.  Ekin,  H.  Campbell,  James  Force, 
W.  H.  Willson,  Felix  Hathaway,  J.  Lawson, 
Thomas  J.  Shadden,  Joseph  Gibbs,  his  +  mark, 
S.  Lewis,  Jr.,  Charles  Roy,  William  Brum,  S. 
Davis,  Joseph  Yatten,  Daniel  Girtman,  C.  T.  Ar- 
rendrill,  A.  Tonner,  David  Carter,  J.  J.  Camp- 
bell, W.  Johnson,  John  Edmunds,  W.  Hauxhurst, 
W.  A.  Pfeiffer,  J.  Holman,  H.  B.  Brewer,  Wil- 
liam C.  Sutton. 

"Willamette,    Oregon    Territory,    March    25, 
1843." 


A 


NOTICE 

"Notice  is  hereby  given  to  all  whom  it  may  con- 
cern, that  those  who  have  obtained  grants  of  lots 
in  Oregon  City  will  be  expected  to  call  upon  L.  W. 
Hastings,  my  authorized  agent  at  Oregon  City, 
and  obtain  a  bond  for  a  deed  or  deeds,  as  the  case 
may  be.    Those  who  hold  claims  to  any  lot,  and 


2o6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

who  comply  with  the  above  requisite  on  or  before 
the  first  day  of  February  next,  will  be  entitled  to 
their  lot  or  lots;  otherwise,  the  lots  upon  which 
they  hold  a  claim  will  thereafter  be  subject  to  any 
disposition  which  the  undersigned  may  think 
proper  to  make  of  them. 

"John  McLoughlin." 
"January  i8,  1843." 

"Oregon  City,  March  27,  1843." 
"We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  certify  that  the 
within  [above]  notice  of  John  McLoughlin  was 
posted  up  in  the  most  public  place  in  this  town. 

"R.  Shortess." 
"A.  E.  Wilson." 


B. 

DEED— JOHN  McLoughlin  to  walter 

POMEROY 

"Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  John 
McLoughlin,  of  Fort  Vancouver,  in  the  Territory 
of  Oregon,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of 
one  dollar,  to  me  in  hand  paid  by  Walter  Pome- 
roy,  of  Oregon  City,  of  the  Territory  aforesaid,  the 
receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  have  this 
day,  and  do  by  these  presents,  remit,  release,  and 
forever  quit  claim,  unto  the  said  Pomeroy,  his 
heirs  and  assigns,  all  and  singular  the  following 
piece,  parcel,  and  lot  of  land,  bounded  and  de- 
scribed as  follows,  to  wit:  commencing  at  the 
northeast  corner,  running  thence  southerly  sixty- 
six  (66)  feet  to  a  stake;  thence  westerly  one  hun- 
dred (100)  feet  to  a  stake;  thence  northerly  sixty- 


Illustrative  Documents  207 

six  (66)  feet  to  a  stake;  thence  easterly  one  hun- 
dred ( 100)  feet  to  a  stake  at  the  place  of  beginning 
-being  lot  number  four,  (4,)  in  block  number 
three,  (3,)  in  the  town  of  Oregon  City,  in  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Oregon,  which  will  more  fully  appear 
from  a  reference  to  the  map  and  plan  of  said  town : 

"To  have  and  to  hold  the  same,  together  with 
all  and  singular  the  privileges  and  appurtenances 
thereunto  in  any  wise  appertaining  or  belonging, 
unto  the  said  Pomeroy,  his  heirs,  executors,  ad- 
ministrators, or  assigns,  forever. 

"And  I,  the  said  McLoughlin,  for  myself,  do 
avouch  and  declare,  that  I  am  the  true  and  proper 
claimant  of  and  to  the  said  premises  and  lot  of 
land,  and  that  I  have  in  myself  full  power,  good 
right,  and  sufficient  authority,  to  remit,  release, 
and  quit  by  claim,  to  all  and  singular  my  right, 
title,  interest,  and  claim,  in  and  to  said  lot  and 
premises,  in  manner  and  form  aforesaid. 

"And  I,  the  said  McLoughlin,  do  hereby  cove- 
nant and  agree  to  warrant  and  defend  the  said 
premises,  together  with  the  privileges  and  appur- 
tenances thereunto  appertaining  or  belonging,  to 
the  said  Pomeroy,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  against  all 
lawful  claims  of  all  persons  whomsoever,  the 
claims  of  the  Government  only  excepted. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  I,  the  said  McLoughlin, 
have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  my  seal, 
this  the  2d  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1843. 

"John  McLoughlin,  (L.  S.)" 

"Per  L.  W.  Hastings,  his  Agent." 

"We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  acknowledge 


2o8  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

that  the  above  is  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  the 
original. 

"R.  Shortess." 
"A.  E.  Wilson." 


C. 

BOND— JOHN  McLOUGHLIN  TO  ALBERT  E. 
WILSON 

"Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  I,  John 
McLoughlin,  of  Fort  Vancouver,  in  the  Territory 
of  Oregon,  am  held  and  firmly  bound  unto  Albert 
E.  Wilson,  of  Oregon  City,  in  the  Territory  afore- 
said, in  the  full  sum  of  five  hundred,  federal 
money;  for  the  punctual  payment  of  which,  well 
and  truly  to  be  made,  I  bind  myself,  my  heirs, 
executors,  or  administrators,  firmly  by  these  pres- 
ents. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto,  below, 
set  my  hand  and  affixed  my  seal,  this  the  26th  day 
of  December,  A.  D.  1842. 

"Now,  know  ye,  that  the  condition  of  the  above 
obligation  is  such,  that  whereas  the  said  Wilson 
hath  this  day,  and  doth  by  these  presents,  purchase 
of  the  said  McLoughlin  all  and  singular  the  fol- 
lowing pieces,  parcels,  tracts,  and  lots  of  land, 
namely:  lots  No.  four  (4)  and  five  (5)  in  block 
No.  two,  (2),  in  the  town  of  Oregon  City,  in  the 
Territory  of  Oregon,  as  is  more  fully  shown  by  the 
map  and  plan  of  the  said  town;  and  hath,  and  by 
these  presents  doth,  agree  to  build  upon  and  im- 
prove each  of  the  said  lots  within  the  term  of  one 
year  from  the  date  of  these  presents.    In  considera- 


Illustrative  Documents  209 

tion  of  which,  the  said  McLoughlin  hath  and 
doth  by  these  presents  covenant  and  agree  to  make 
to  the  said  Wilson  a  good  and  sufficient  quit  claim 
deed  for  and  to  all  and  singular  the  above-men- 
tioned pieces,  parcels,  tracts,  and  lots  of  land, 
v^henever  he,  the  said  Wilson,  shall  have  complied 
w^ith  the  above  conditions  on  his  part.  Now,  if  the 
said  McLoughlin  shall  well  and  truly  make,  or 
cause  to  be  made,  the  said  deed  to  the  said  Wilson, 
upon  the  said  Wilson's  complying  on  his  part  with 
the  above  condition,  then  and  in  such  case  the 
within  obligation  shall  become  entirely  void  and 
of  no  effect;  otherwise,  to  be  and  remain  of  full 
force  and  virtue. 

"John  McLoughlin,  (L.  S.)" 
"Per  L.  W.  Hastings,  his  Agent." 

"We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  acknowledge 
the  above  to  be  a  true  and  correct  copy  of  the  orig- 
inal. 

"R.  Shortess." 
"A.  E.  Wilson."  ^^ 
W.  H.  Gray  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Shor- 
tess petition.     In  his  History  of  Oregon,  pp.  296, 
297,  he  says,  in  relation  to  certain  persons  who  did 
not  sign  the  Shortess  petition: 
"Mr.  George  Abernethy  declined  to  sign  this 

"  This  copy  of  the  Shortess  petition  is  made  from  the  United  States 
benate  Document  as  printed  by  its  order  of  February  7,  1844.  It  is 
Senate  Document  105,  28th  Congress,  ist  Session.  One  copy  of  this 
ongmal  Senate  Document  is  in  the  possession  of  Milton  W.  Smith 
Esq  of  Portland,  Oregon.  By  his  courtesy  the  foregoing  copy  was 
made  from  said  Senate  Document.  The  purported  copy  of  the  Short- 
ess petition  in  Gray's  History  of  Oregon  and  in  Brown's  Political  His- 
tory of  Oregon  are  not  true  copies. 


2IO  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

petition  through  fear  of  injuring  the  Methodist 
Mission  in  its  secular  or  business  relations  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

"Hugh  Burns  would  not  sign  it  because  he  did 
not  wish  Congress  to  be  asked  to  confirm  his  title 
to  lots  and  improvements. 

"Jason  Lee,  though  he  thought  it  right  to  peti- 
tion Congress  for  protection,  yet  on  account  of  his 
position  as  Superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Mis- 
sion, and  the  influence  of  the  [Hudson's  Bay] 
Company  against  them  should  he  sign  it,  thought 
it  best  not  to  give  his  name. 

"Dr.  I.  L.  Babcock  refused,  because,  by  signing 
he  would  lose  his  influence  with  the  [Hudson's 
Bay]  company. 

"Walter  Pomeroy,  ditto. 

"Dr.  Bailey  did  not  wish  any  protection  from 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

"Rev.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins  was  ashamed  of  the 
petition.  What  does  Congress  care  about  meas- 
uring wheat?  or  a  contest  between  two  milling 
companies?' 

"George  Gay  did  not  care  anything  about  it. 
Congress  might  do  as  it  pleased;  he  did  not  want 
its  protection. 

"The  people  in  Tualatin  Plains  did  not  have  an 
opportunity  to  sign  or  refuse  for  want  of  time  to 
circulate  it  in  that  section.  The  bearer  of  it,  Wil- 
liam C.  Sutton,  was  on  his  way  to  the  States  across 
the  Rocky  Mountains." 

Thurston  in  his  speech  in  Congress  December 
26,  1850,  said,  as  to  the  author  of  the  Shortess  peti- 
tion:  "I  know  the  gentleman  who  wrote  the  orig- 


Illustrative  Documents  211 

inal,  whom  to  know  is  to  respect,  to  listen  to  to 
believe.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  stand- 
ing in  Oregon,  of  some  twelve  or  fourteen  years 
residence  and  who  would  be  universally  believed 
on  any  subject  on  which  he  would  presume  to 
speak."  ^^  Thurston  certainly  did  not  refer  to 
Shortess.  The  latter,  while  a  man  of  ability  and 
some  education,  was  of  an  ascetic  disposition,  in- 
tense in  his  dislikes  and  given  to  sarcasm.  He  was 
not  a  popular  man. 

That  the  Shortess  petition  was  written  by 
George  Abernethy  is  shown  in  a  foot-note  on  page 
207  of  volume  i,  History  of  Oregon^  Bancroft's 
Works,  where  it  is  said  that  "such  is  the  statement 
of  Shortess  made  to  Elwood  Evans  by  letter  in 
1867,"  quoting  from  a  manuscript  history  of  Ore- 
gon written  by  Evans  for  Bancroft.  Subsequently 
Evans  wrote  an  elaborate  history  of  Oregon  and 
Washington,  entitled  "History  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest,"  which  was  published  in  1889.  On 
page  243  of  volume  i  of  this  history  Evans  says 
that  September  i,  1867,  Shortess  wrote  an  auto- 
graph letter  to  Evans  that  Shortess  originally 
drew  up  notes  or  a  summary  of  the  subjects  he  in- 
tended to  embrace  in  the  petition.  That  Shortess 
requested  Abernethy  "to  write  it  in  proper  form, 
which  he  did,  but  refused  to  sign  it  or  allow  it  to 
be  circulated  in  his  handwriting,  fearing  it  might 
injure  the  mission.  I  had  it  copied  by  A.  E.  Wil- 
son. It  was  circulated  and,  through  his  assistance, 
sent  to  Washington." 

Shortess  arrived  in  the  Willamette  Valley  in 

'^  See  Document  N. 


212  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

April,  1840.  He  afterwards  took  up  a  land  claim 
near  Upper  Astoria.  He  sold  his  claim  and  be- 
came a  recluse.  He  died  in  1877.  Some  time 
after  he  signed  the  Shortess  petition  he  appears 
to  have  changed  his  opinions  of  the  Hudson's  Bay- 
Company,  and  especially  of  the  Methodist  mis- 
sionaries. He  wrote  a  document  about  his  trip  to 
Oregon  which  he  gave  to  Mr.  William  Chance. 
The  latter  gave  this  document  to  the  Oregon  Pio- 
neer Association.  It  is  published  in  full  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association 
for  1896,  pp.  92-107.  It  is  a  very  interesting  docu- 
ment. In  it  he  refers  to  the  Methodist  mission- 
aries in  terms  which,  at  least,  are  not  complimen- 
tary. 

DOCUMENT    I 

Ricord's  Proclamation;  letters  of  A.  Lawrence 
Love  joy  and  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  of  March  20, 
1844*  Ricord's  Caveat;  invalidity  of  Waller's 
claim  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's  land;  and  excerpts 
from  letters  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee  to  Rev.  A.  F. 
Waller  and  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines,  written  in 
1844. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  proclamation  dated 
December  20,  1843,  and  issued  by  John  Ricord, 
as  attorney  for  Rev.  Alvin  F.  Waller.  The  origi- 
nal of  this  document  in  the  handwriting  of  Ri- 
cord, and  signed  by  him,  pasted  on  cloth,  is  in 
the  possession  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society. 
Said  original  was  publicly  posted  at  Oregon  City 
by  Waller  after  Ricord  left  for  the  Hawaiian  Is- 


Illustrative  Documents  213 

lands.     It  shows  weather  stains,  but  is  perfectly 
legible. 

"To  The  People  of  Oregon. 

"Fellow  Citizens, 
"Having  been  Retained  professionally  to  establish 
the  Claim  of  Mr.  Alvin  F.  Waller  to  the  Tract  of 
Land  on  the  East  Bank  of  the  Wallammette  River, 
sometimes  called  the  Wallammette  Falls  Settle- 
ment and  sometimes  Oregon  City,  I  consider  it  ^ 
duty  to  my  Client  and  the  public,  to  state  briefly 
and  concisely  the  several  circumstances  of  his  case, 
as  they  really  exist,  in  order  that  his  motives  may 
not  be  impugned  and  his  intentions  misunderstood 
and  misrepresented. 

"The  public  are  already  aware  that  my  client 
commenced  the  Occupancy  of  his  Farm,  in  the 
spring  of  A.  D.  1840,  when  no  one  resided  at  the 
falls;  and  that,  in  the  course  of  that  Summer,  he 
built  his  Home,  moved  his  family  into  it,  and 
cleared  and  fenced  a  good  portion  of  the  Land, 
from  which,  in  the  ensuing  years  A.  D.  1841  & 
1842  he  raised  successive  crops  of  corn,  Potatoes 
and  other  vegetables  usually  cultivated  by  Farm- 
ers. That  he  remained  thus  occupying  undis- 
turbed, until  the  month  of  December  A.  D.  1842, 
about  two  years  and  six  months,  when  Doctor 
McLoughlin  caused  his  Farm  to  be  surveyed,  for 
the  purpose  of  selling  it  in  subdivisions  to  Ameri- 
can Citizens.  It  has  since  been  currently  reported 
and  quite  generally  believed,  that  my  client  had 
renounced  his  right  in  favor  of  Doctor  McLough- 
lin. This  I  am  authorized  to  contradict,  having 
perused  the  letter  written  by  Mr.  Waller,  which 


2T4  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

not  only  contains  no  renunciation,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, is  replete  with  modest  and  firm  assertions 
of  his  rights  in  the  premises :  offering  at  the  same 
time  to  relinquish  his  claim,  if  the  Doctor  would 
comply  with  certain  very  reasonable  and  just  con- 
ditions. Upon  this  offer,  the  parties  had  come  to 
no  final  conclusion,  until  my  arrival  in  the  Col- 
ony, when  Doctor  McLoughlin  attempted  to  em- 
ploy me  to  establish  his  claim,  disregarding  the 
rights  of  all  other  persons -which,  I  declined  do- 
ing. Mr.  Waller  thereupon  engaged  me  to  sub- 
mit the  conditions  a  second  time  to  the  Doctor,  for 
his  acceptance  or  rejection;  which  I  did  in  the  fol- 
lowing words: 

"ist.  That  your  preemptive  line  be  so  run  as 
to  exclude  the  Island  upon  which  a  private  Com- 
pany of  Citizens  have  already  erected  a  Grist  Mill 
-  conceding  to  them  so  much  water  as  may  be 
necessary  for  the  use  of  said  Mill. 

"ad.  That  Mr.  Waller  be  secured  in  the  ulti- 
mate Title  to  the  two  city  Lots  now  in  his  posses- 
sion and  other  lots  not  exceeding  in  superficial 
area  five  Acres,  to  be  chosen  by  him  from  among 
the  unsold  lots  of  your  present  Survey. 

"3d.  That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  on  behalf  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Mission,  be  in  like  manner  se- 
cured in  the  lots  claimed  for  the  use  of  said  Mis- 
sion. They  consist  of  Church  and  Parsonage 
lots  and  are  well  known  to  the  public. 

"I  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  McLoughlin  dated 
loth  Novr.  1843,  in  answer  to  mine,  in  which  he 
declines  complying  with  the  above  Conditions, 
and  thus  puts  an  end  to  the  offer  of  my  Client  to 
relinquish  his  right  of  Preemption.     Under  these 


Illustrative  Documents  215 

circumstances  Mr.  Waller  has  now  applied  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  which,  under 
the  Constitution  has  original  jurisdiction  of  "all 
cases  in  Law  &  Equity,  arising  under  Treaties," 
to  grant  him  a  Commission  for  perpetuating  the 
testimony  of  the  facts  in  his  case,  de  bene  esse,  in 
order  that,  whenever  Congress  shall  hereafter  see 
fit  to  prescribe  by  law  the  conditions  and  Consid- 
erations, he  may  be  enabled  to  demand  of  the 
United  States,  a  Patent;  also  praying  the  Court 
to  grant  him  such  other  relief  in  the  premises  as 
may  be  consonant  with  Equity  and  good  con- 
science. 

"The  Legality  of  Mr.  Waller's  claim  rests  upon 
the  following  Grounds :  - 

"ist.  He  was  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of 
full  age  and  possessed  of  a  family  when  he  first 
came  to  reside  on  the  premises.  2d.  He  built  a 
House  upon  them  and  moved  his  family  into  it; 
thus  becoming  in  Fact  and  in  Law  a  Householder 
on  the  land.  3d.  He  cleared,  fenced  and  culti- 
vated a  portion  of  it  during  two  years  and  six 
months,  before  he  was  disturbed  in  his  actual  pos- 
session. And  4th.  That  he  is  not  at  this  moment 
continuing  the  cultivation  of  his  Farm,  is  not  his 
fault  since  it  was  wrested  from  him. 

'The  Illegality  of  Doctor  McLoughlin's  Claim 
rests  upon  the  following  Grounds  :- 

"ist.  He  is  a  British  Subject,  owing  allegiance 
to  a  Foreign  Power,  and  has  so  continued  to  be 
ever  since  the  Spring  of  A.  D.  1840.  For  this 
reason  alone  he  could  not  acquire  preemption  to 
lands  m  the  United  States. 

^'2d.     He  is  the  Chief  Officer  of  a  Foreign  Cor- 


2i6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


porate  Monopoly.  For  this  reason  alone  he  could 
not  acquire  preemption  to  lands  in  the  United 
States. 

"3d.  He  does  not  now  and  never  did  reside  on 
the  land  in  question,  but  on  the  contrary,  he  re- 
sides and  has  always  continued  to  reside  on  the 
North  side  of  the  Columbia  River,  the  Section  of 
country  actually  in  dispute  between  the  two  Gov- 
ernments, about  Twenty  miles  from  the  land 
claimed  by  Mr.  Waller,  and  there  he  is  obliged  to 
remain,  so  long  as  he  continues  to  be  Chief 
Factor. 

"4th.  He  is  not  in  fact  the  Claimant.  The 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  a  Foreign  Corporation, 
is  in  fact  the  Claimant  while  Doctor  McLough- 
lin only  lends  his  name;  well  knowing,  that  a  Cor- 
poration even  though  it  be  an  American  one,  can 
not  acquire  a  preemption.  This  is  evinced  by  the 
employment  of  men  to  be  his  Agents  and  to  sell 
lots  for  him,  who  are  at  the  same  time  partners  in 
and  receiving  dividends  and  Salaries  from  the 
Company. 

"5th.  The  pretentions  of  Doctor  McLoughlin 
arose,  if  at  all,  two  years  and  six  months  after  the 
actual  Settlement  of  Mr.  Waller;  and  therefore 
they  are  in  direct  violation  of  the  Treaty  of  A.  D. 
1827:  Converting  the  mutual  and  joint  occupancy 
into  an  exclusive  occupancy  by  British  subjects. 

"6th.  The  Treaty  of  joint  occupancy  ,[1827] 
does  not  and  was  never  intended  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  to  confer  any  rights  of  citizenship 
upon    Foreigners.     The    Power    to    confer   such 


Illustrative  Documents  217 


rights  is  by  the  Constitution  reserved  to  Congress. 
And  the  right  to  acquire  title  by  preemption  is  pe- 
culiar to  citizens. 

"Those  fellow  citizens  are  the  Facts  and  some  of 
the  Points  of  Law  in  my  client's  case.  Upon  the 
same  principle  contended  for  by  Dr.  McLoughlin, 
any  of  you  may  incur  the  risk  of  being  ousted  from 
your  Farms  in  this  Colony,  by  the  next  rich  for- 
eigner who  chooses  to  take  a  fancy  so  to  do,  unless 
in  the  first  instance,  you  come  unanimously  for- 
ward and  resist  these  usurpations.  It  is  not  my 
client's  intention  to  wrong  any  who  have  purchased 
Lots  of  the  Doctor,  and  to  guard  against  the  in- 
jury which  might  result  to  individuals  in  this  re- 
spect, I  have  carefully  drawn  up  the  Form  of  a 
Bond  for  a  Warantee  Deed,  which  Mr.  Waller 
is  at  all  times  ready,  without  any  further  consider- 
ation, to  execute  to  any  person  who  has,  in  good 
faith,  bought  of  the  Doctor,  prior  to  the  date  of 
this  notice,  by  being  applied  to  at  his  residence. 
Mr.  Waller  does  not  require  one  cent  of  money  to 
be  paid  to  him  as  a  Consideration  for  his  Bonds  - 
the  trouble,  expense  and  outlays  they  have  already 
incurred,  with  the  desire  to  save  all  such  persons 
harmless  from  pecuniary  loss,  is  a  good  and  suffi- 
cient Consideration  in  Law  to  bind  him  in  the  pro- 
posed penalty  of  One  Thousand  Dollars.  See 
Comyns.     Digest,  Assumpsit  B. 

"I  am  of  opinion  that  Mr.  Waller  has  rights  in 
the  premises,  which  neither  Doctor  McLoughlin 
nor  even  Congress  by  any  retrospective  legislation 
can  take  away  from  him ;  -  and  therefore,  fellow 


-218  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


citizens,  in  sincere  friendship,  I  would  counsel  you 
to  lose  no  time  in  applying  to  him  for  your  new 
Bonds. 

"John  Ricord," 

"Counsellor  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  and  Attorney 
for  Alvin  F.  Waller." 

"Dated  20th  December,  1843." 

The  following  two  letters  from  A.  L.  Lovejoy 
to  A.  F.  Waller  and  from  Waller  to  Lovejoy,  each 
dated  March  20,  1844,  are  in  reference  to  the  fore- 
going proclamation  by  Ricord  as  attorney  for 
Waller.  These  letters  are  in  the  handwriting  of 
Lovejoy  and  Waller,  respectively.  The  letter  of 
Waller  is  shown  by  the  line  below  Waller's  sig- 
nature to  be  a  copy  which  he  made  and  kept  to 
show  what  he  had  written.  These  letters  are  in 
the  possession  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society. 
They  were  among  Waller's  private  papers  at  the 
time  of  his  death. 

"Wallamette  Falls  20  Mar.  1844." 
"To  the 

"Revd.  A.  F.  Waller - 
"I  have  been  directed  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  to 
make  some  enquiries  of  you  in  relation  to  a  letter 
which  appears  to  have  been  written  by  yourself  to 
him  relative  to  his  claim.  Dr.  McLoughlin  ob- 
serves in  your  notice  to  the  People  of  Oregon 
words  like  the  following: 

"  'It  has  since  been  currently  reported  and  quite 
generally  believed  that  my  client  had  renounced 
his  right  in  favor  of  Dr.  McLoughlin.  This  I  am 
authorized  to  contradict  having  perused  the  let- 


Illustrative  Documents  iig 

ter  written  by  Mr.  Waller  which  not  only  con- 
tains no  renunciation  but  on  the  contrary  is  re- 
plete with  modest  and  firm  assertions  of  his  rights 
in  the  premises.' 

"Please  have  the  kindness  to  say  whether  you 
wrote  such  a  letter  as  there  referred  to  and  if  so. 
As  Dr.  McLoughlin  has  never  received  anything 
of  the  kind  allow  him  through  me  to  solicit  a  copy 
thereof  and  much  oblige. 

"I  am  Revd.  Sir, 
"Your  humble  and  obt.  servant, 
"A.  Lawrence  Lovejoy." 

"Willamette  Falls,  20  Mar.  1844." 
"Mr.  Lovejoy. 

"Dear  Sir: 
"The  letter  referred  to  in  the  Notice  was  one 
written  to  Rev.  J.  Lee  in  answer  to  one  he  wrote 
me.  I  think  I  have  never  written  a  line  to  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin on  any  subject.  Mr.  Lee  I  presume  has 
the  letter  with  him. 
"I  am  yours  truly, 

"A.  F.  Waller." 

"Copy  of  a  reply  to  the  within." 

The  following  copy  and  statement  of  John 
Ricord's  caveat  or  notice  as  attorney  for  Rev.  Al- 
vin  F.  Waller  to  Dr.  McLoughlin  is  taken  from 
Mrs.  Frances  Fuller  Victor's  volume,  The  River  of 
the  West,  page  358:  "  Tou  will  please  to  take 
notice  that  my  client,  Mr.  A.  F.  Waller,  has  taken 
formal  measures  at  Washington  to  substantiate  his 
claim  as  a  preemptor  and  actual  settler  upon  the 
tract  of  land,  sometimes  called  the  Wallamet  Falls 
settlement  and  sometimes  Oregon  City,  compris- 


220  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

ing  six  hundred  and  forty  acres;  and  being  aware 
that,  although  a  foreigner,  you  claim  to  exercise 
acts  of  ownership  over  said  land,  this  notice  is 
given  to  apprise  you  that  all  sales  you  may  make  of 
lots  or  other  subdivisions  of  said  farm,  after  the 
receipt  hereof,  will  be  regarded  by  my  client,  and 
by  the  government,  as  absolutely  fraudulent,  and 
will  be  made  at  your  peril.'  " 

Then  followed  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
Doctor's  claim  was  denied.  "First,  that  he  was  an 
alien ;  Secondly,  that  he  was  the  chief  of  a  foreign 
corporate  monopoly;  Thirdly,  that  he  had  not  re- 
sided upon  the  land  in  question  for  a  year  pre- 
vious; Fourthly,  that  he  did  not  hold  the  land  for 
himself  but  the  Company;  Fifthly,  that  his  claim, 
if  he  had  any,  arose  two  years  subsequent  to  Mr. 
Waller's  settlement  thereon.  This  flattering  docu- 
ment closed  with  Mr.  Ricord's  regrets  that  he  had 
'failed  to  make  an  amicable  compromise'  of  the 
matter  between  the  Doctor  and  his  client,  and  also 
that  his  'client  had  been  driven  to  the  vexatious 
proceedings  of  the  law,  in  order  to  establish  his 
rights  as  an  American  citizen.'  "  This  caveat  or 
notice  was  served  on  Dr.  McLoughlin  in  1844 
prior  to  April  4,  after  Ricord  left  Oregon  for  the 
Sandwich  Islands. 

The  attempt  of  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  to  assert  any 
right  to,  or  to  procure  the  land  claim  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin, or  any  part  of  it,  at  Oregon  City,  under 
the  law  relating  to  pre-empting  lands  was  absurd 
as  well  as  invalid.  Under  the  act  of  Congress  of 
September  4,  1841,  then  in  force,  relating  to  the 
pre-emption  of  public  lands  of  the  United  States,  it 


Illustrative  Documents  111 

was  necessary  that  the  lands  should  be  a  part  of 
the  public  lands  of  the  United  States.  The  Con- 
ventions of  joint-occupancy  were  then  in  force  and 
neither  Great  Britain  nor  the  United  States  exer- 
cised jurisdiction  over  the  lands  in  the  Oregon 
Country. 

In  addition  to  other  requisites  of  the  pre-emption 
law,  no  person  could  pre-empt  more  than  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres,  and  the  law  required  the  in- 
tending pre-emptor  "to  enter  with  the  Register  of 
the  Land-Office  for  the  district  in  which  such  land 
lies,  by  legal  subdivisions,  any  number  of  acres 
not  exceeding  one  hundred  and  sixty,  or  a  quarter- 
section  of  land,"  etc. 

There  was  no  United  States  land  district  in  Ore- 
gon nor  any  Register  of  any  United  States  land- 
office.  There  had  been  no  public  surveys  of  land 
in  Oregon.  No  lands  could  be  legally  pre-empted 
which  had  not  been  officially  surveyed  by  authority 
of  the  United  States.^^ 

In  the  case  of  Lytle  v.  State  of  Arkansas,  9 
Howard  (U.  S.  Supreme  Court)  314,  it  was  held, 
concerning  a  claim  to  pre-emption,  that  "until  sanc- 
tioned by  law,  it  has  no  existence  as  a  substantive 
right."  In  the  case  of  Brown  v.  Coursen,  16 
Oregon,  388,  it  was  held  that  a  pre-emption  is  a 
right  derived  wholly  from  statute  and  a  substantial 
compliance  with  the  statute  is  necessary;  and  the 
condition  must  exist  which  would  enable  the  pre- 
emptor  to  acquire  the  land  under  the  statute.    In 

"Bernard's  Heirs  v.  Ashley's  Heirs,  i8  Howard  (U.  S.  Supreme 
<-ourt)  43;  Hot  Spring  Cases,  2  Otto  (U.  S.  Supreme  Court)  698, 
706. 


221  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

the  case  of  Stark  v.  Starrs,  6  Wallace  (U.  S.  Su- 
preme Court)  402,  it  was  held  that  even  the  act  of 
August  14,  1848,  organizing  the  Territory  of  Ore- 
gon, did  not  extend  over  Oregon  any  portion  of 
the  preemption  act  of  September  4,  1841. 

Ricord  and  Rev.  Jason  Lee  sailed  on  the  same 
vessel  from  the  Columbia  River  bound  to  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands.  They  left  Oregon  City  January 
4,  but  did  not  cross  the  Columbia  River  bar  until 
February  3,  1844.  Ricord  did  not  intend  to  return 
to  Oregon.  He  made  his  home  at  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  (then  called  Sandwich  Islands)  and  died 
there.  Rev.  Jason  Lee  intended  merely  to  make  a 
trip  to  the  Eastern  States  and  return  to  Oregon. 
He  wished  to  see  the  Missionary  Board  in  New 
York.  He  also  wished  to  go  to  Washington  to  see 
about  land  matters,  particularly  those  which  the 
Methodist  Mission  wished  to  obtain  the  title  to. 
When  he  arrived  at  Honolulu  he  first  learned  that 
he  had  been  removed  as  Superintendent  of  the  Ore- 
gon Mission,  and  that  Rev.  George  Gary  was  on 
his  way  to  take  charge.  February  28,  1844,  Rev. 
Jason  Lee  sailed  on  a  small  schooner  called  the 
"Hoaikaika"  for  Mazatlan,  Mexico.^^  After  his 
arrival  at  Mazatlan,  Jason  Lee  crossed  Mexico. 
He  arrived  in  New  York  May  27,  1844.  In  June 
he  went  to  Washington.  On  his  return  to  New 
York  he  appeared  before  the  Missionary  Board 
for  several  days,  beginning  with  July  i,  1844,  and 
submitted  his  oral  report  on  the  Oregon  Mission. 

As  relating  to  land  claims  in  Oregon,  I  make  the 
following  excerpts   from   two  letters  written   by 

**  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines,  History  of  Oregon,  Chapter  x. 


Illustrative  Documents  223 

Rev.  Jason  Lee  after  leaving  Oregon.  The  orig- 
inals of  these  letters  are  in  the  possession  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society.  The  first  of  these  let- 
ters was  written  on  board  the  schooner  Hoaikaika, 
March  23,  1844,  to  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller.  In  this  let- 
ter Jason  Lee  says:  "I  paid  Mr.  Ricord  Two 
hundred  and  Fifty  dollars  for  you  and  shall  in- 
close your  order  to  Bro.  Abernethy.  .  .  .  What 
the  result  of  your  land  claim  will  be,  of  course,  I 
can  form  no  better  opinion  than  when  I  left.  But 
I  have  less  hopes  of  effecting  anything  for  the  Mis- 
sion more  than  to  prepare  the  way  for  something 
to  be  done  at  the  proper  stage,  that  is,  whenever 
the  Government  shall  be  prepared  to  grant  title. 
.  .  .  I  long  to  hear  how  you  are  getting  on  with 
Dr. &c.,  and  how  the  good  cause  is  prosper- 
ing. May  the  Lord  bless  all  who  have  embraced 
his  cause  and  keep  them  unto  'that  day.'  " 

The  second  of  these  letters  is  to  Rev.  Gustavus 
Hines.  It  is  dated  at  New  York  July  i,  1844,  and 
written  after  the  return  of  Rev.  Jason  Lee  from 
Washington.  He  wrote:  "Met  a  favorable  recep- 
tion there  [Washington]  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  expect  that  the  land  claimed  will  be  cheerfully 
accorded  to  us.  .  .  .  Please  tell  Bro.  Waller 
that  his  claim  is  filed  in  the  Office  of  the  Commis- 
sioner General  of  the  land  office.  This  will  prob- 
ably secure  his  claim,  though  the  Supreme  Court 
will  probably  take  no  action  till  an  Oregon  Bill 
passes."  Waller,  however,  had  "surrendered"  all 
his  rights  in  "his"  (the  McLoughlin)  "land 
claim"  April  4,  1844.^^ 

"  See  Document  J. 


224  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


DOCUMENT    J 

Agreement  between  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  Rev. 
A.  F.  Waller,  and  Rev.  David  Leslie,  of  April 
4, 1844;  statement  of  cause  and  manner  of  mak- 
ing said  agreement. 

The  following  agreement  is  in  the  possession  of 
the  Oregon  Historical  Society.  It  was  among  the 
private  papers  of  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  This  instrument  is  certified  to  be  a  true 
copy  of  the  original  by  W.  W.  Raymond,  one  of 
the  lay  Methodist  missionaries.  Apparently  there 
was  but  one  original  of  this  instrument,  although 
executed  by  Dr.  McLoughlin,  Rev.  Alvan  F.  Wal- 
ler and  Rev.  David  Leslie,  and  therefore  a  copy 
was  made  of  the  same  and  certified  by  Raymond 
for  Waller's  use. 

ARTICLES  OF  AGREEMENT 

"Article  of  Agreement  made  and  entered  into 
this  fourth  day  of  April  A.  D.  1844  between  John 
McLoughlin  and  Alvan  F.  Waller  both  of  Oregon 
City  in  the  Territory  of  Oregon : 

"Whereas  certain  conflicting  claims  to  a  tract  of 
land  situated  at  the  Falls  of  the  Wallamette  River 
on  the  east  side  of  said  River  containing  six  [hun- 
dred] and  forty  acres  and  surveyed  by  Jesse  Ap- 
plegate  in  the  month  of  December  A.  D.  1843  ^^^ve 
existed  between  the  aforesaid  parties  and  the  said 
parties  are  now  willing  and  desirous  to  arrange  all 
differences  existing  between  them  in  regard  to  the 
same; 

"It  is  therefore  agreed  as  follows:  The  said  Al- 


Illustrative  Documents  225 

van  F.  Waller  agrees  to  surrender  make  over  and 
forever  abandon  unto  the  said  John  McLoughlin 
his  heirs  administrators  and  assigns  and  in  his 
favor,  all  claims  rights  and  pretensions  whatsoever 
which  he  now  has  within  or  to  the  said  above  men- 
tioned Tract  or  survey  of  land  or  any  part  thereof. 
The  said  Waller  further  agrees  to  withdraw  any 
proceedings  which  he  or  his  attorney  may  have 
commenced  in  any  of  the  courts  of  the  United 
States  touching  the  said  tract  or  survey  of  land  and 
to  abstain  from  at  any  future  time  instituting  any 
proceedings  to  secure  to  himself  the  title  of  the  said 
tract  or  survey  of  land  in  opposition  to  the  said 
McLoughlin  or  to  his  detriment  in  any  way  what- 
soever, or  to  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of  to  any 
person  whatsoever  other  than  the  said  McLough- 
lin any  claim  or  right  which  he  the  said  Waller 
may  have  in  the  same. 

"And  the  said  John  McLoughlin  agrees  in  con- 
sideration of  the  above  mentioned  acts  and  agree- 
ments on  the  part  of  the  said  Alvan  F.  Waller  to 
pay  to  the  said  Waller  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dol- 
lars and  further  to  convey  to  the  said  Waller  the 
premises  now  occupied  by  him  being  lots  number 
two  and  seven  in  Blocks  number  one  in  Oregon 
City  in  said  survey -also  the  entire  Blocks  num- 
bers fifty  four,  forty  one  and  eighteen  and  lots 
one,  two,  three,  six,  seven,  and  eight  in  Block  num- 
ber eleven  all  included  in  the  plot  Oregon  City 
aforesaid;  and  the  said  John  McLoughlin  further 
agrees  to  give  to  said  Alvan  F.  Waller  his  Bond 
conditioned  for  a  good  and  sufficient  Warrantee 
Deed  to  all  the  above  specified  premises. 

"And  the  said  John  McLoughlin  further  agrees 


22  6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


to  convey  to  David  Leslie  nov^  acting  superinten- 
dent of  the  Oregon  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission 
lots  three,  four,  five  and  six  in  Block  number  one 
and  also  lots  numbers  four  and  five  in  Block  twenty- 
eight  and  also  the  entire  Block  number  twenty 
nine  on  the  plot  of  Oregon  City  aforesaid;  and  the 
said  John  McLoughlin  further  agrees  to  give  to 
the  said  David  Leslie  his  Bond  conditioned  for  a 
good  and  sufficient  warrantee  deed  accordingly  to 
all  the  above  specified  premises. 

"Signed  with  our  names  and  sealed  with  our 
seals  this  day  and  year  first  above  mentioned. 

"John  McLoughlin'V  ^ 
"Alvan  F.  Waller"  Jl.  s.l 
"David  Leslie"  |       j 

"Witnesses" 

"James  Douglas" 
"Elijah  White" 
"A.  L.  Lovejoy" 
"W.  Gilpin." 
"True  Copy  of  the  original. 
"Attest:  W.  W.  Raymond. 

"Wallamette  Falls  July  24,  1844." 

A  copy  of  the  bond,  dated  April  4,  1844,  given 
by  Dr.  John  McLoughlin  to  Rev.  A.  F.  Waller,  as 
provided  in  said  Articles  of  Agreement  of  the  same 
date,  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Oregon  Historical 
Society.  It  is  also  certified  to  be  a  true  copy  by 
said  W.  W.  Raymond.  This  certified  copy  was, 
also,  among  the  private  papers  of  Rev.  A.  F.  Wal- 
ler at  the  time  of  his  death. 

Frances  Fuller  Victor,  who  had  access  to  orig- 


Illustrative  Documents  227 


inal  documents,  says  that  the  reasons  why  the  agree- 
ment set  forth  in  this  Document  J,  came  to  be  en- 
tered into  are  as  follows:  In  April,  1844,  Dr. 
Elijah  White  suggested  that  the  differences  be- 
tween Dr.  McLoughlin  and  A.  F.  Waller  about 
the  Oregon  City  land  claim  might  be  settled  by 
arbitration.  Dr.  McLoughlin  finally  consented  to 
this  plan.  The  arbitrators  chosen  were  Dr.  Elijah 
White,  Major  Gilpin,  and  James  Douglas,  on  the 
side  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and  Revs.  David  Leslie 
and  A.  F.  Waller  on  the  side  of  Waller  and  the 
Methodist  Mission.  All  the  arbitrators,  except 
Douglas,  were  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
Major  Gilpin  had  attended  West  Point  and  had 
been  an  officer  in  the  regular  army  of  the  United 
States.  He  came  to  Oregon  with  Fremont's  expe- 
dition. Rev.  David  Leslie  was  then  the  acting 
Superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Mission. 

Waller  insisted  that  he  should  receive  five  hun- 
dred dollars  and  five  acres  for  himself  and  the 
Methodist  Mission  should  receive  fourteen  lots. 
White  and  Gilpin  considered  this  exorbitant  and 
opposed  it.  They  were  finally  persuaded  by 
Douglas  to  agree  to  Waller's  terms.  Douglas  said 
to  Dr.  McLoughlin,  "I  thought  it  best  to  give  you 
one  fever  and  have  done  with  it.  I  have  acceded 
to  the  terms  and  signed  the  papers."  ^^ 

While  Dr.  McLoughlin  signed  these  agree- 
ments and  executed  these  bonds  and  carried  them 
out  as  far  as  he  was  able  to,  he  was  not  pleased 
with  being  compelled  to  accede  to  these  demands, 

'*Mrs.  Frances  F.   Victor,   The  River  of  the  West,  pp.  359,  360; 
History  of  Oregon,  Bancroft's  Works,  Vol.  i,  p.  223. 


228  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

which  he  considered  unjust.  If  Waller,  either  for 
himself  alone  or  for  himself  and  the  Methodist 
Mission,  were  entitled  to  the  640  acres  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin's  land  claim,  Waller  and  it  should  have 
insisted  on  having  the  whole  claim.  The  propo- 
sition of  Waller  to  accept  $500  and  five  acres  of 
land  and  for  Dr.  McLoughlin  to  give  the  Mission 
fourteen  lots  shows  that  in  the  minds  of  Waller 
and  the  Mission  his  and  its  claims  were,  to  say  the 
least,  very  dubious  ones.  Dr.  McLoughlin  could 
but  consider  that  he  had  been  forced  to  comply 
with  these  demands,  not  as  a  question  of  right,  but 
as  a  question  of  expediency  and  to  get  rid  of  these 
false  claims. 

DOCUMENT    K 

Statement  of  the  career  in  Oregon  of  Judge  W .  P. 

Bryant. 

I  have  been  unable  to  learn  much  about  Judge 
W.  P.  Bryant,  except  his  actions  in  connection 
with  Abernethy  Island  and  against  Dr.  McLough- 
lin. To  his  Biennial  Report  of  1899  (page  190) 
Hon.  H.  R.  Kincaid,  as  Secretary  of  State  for  Ore- 
gon, added  an  Appendix  giving  short  biographies 
of  the  Chief  Justices  of  Oregon  and  of  other  Ore- 
gon officials.  Of  Judge  Bryant  the  Secretary  of 
State  said  only:  "There  are  no  official  records  in 
the  Department  of  State  to  show  when  Mr.  Bryant 
assumed  the  duties  of  his  office  nor  for  what  pe- 
riod he  served.  The  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  at  the  time  when  he  served  were  not  re- 
ported.   Mr.  Bryant  was  appointed  by  the  Presi- 


Illustrative  Documents  229 


dent  from  some  eastern  state  and  only  served  here 
a  short  time  when  he  again  returned  east." 

In  the  History  of  Oregon  in  Bancroft's  Works, 
it  is  said:  That  Judge  Bryant's  home  was  in  Indi- 
ana; that  he  was  appointed  Chief  Justice  of  Ore- 
gon in  August,  1848,  and  arrived  in  Oregon  April 
9,  1849;  that  he  resigned  as  Chief  Justice  Janu- 
ary I,  1 85 1,  having  spent  but  five  months  in  Ore- 
gon; that  upon  his  resignation  he  returned  to  Indi- 
ana, where  he  soon  died. 


DOCUMENT    L 

Letter  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  published  in  the 

^^Oregon  Spectator,"  Thursday,  September  12, 

1850. 
"Mr.  Editor: 

"In  the  Congressional  Globe  of  May  30th,  1850, 
is  the  following  language  of  Mr.  Thurston,  the 
Delegate  from  Oregon,  to  which  I  wish  to  invite 
the  attention  of  the  public. 

"  'And  as  to  the  humbug  about  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  mentioned  by  the  gentleman  from  Mis- 
souri [Mr.  Bowlin],  I  have  to  say  that  I  know  of 
no  humbug  about  it;  this  Company  has  been  war- 
ring against  our  Government  for  these  forty  years. 
Dr.  McLoughlin  has  been  the  chief  fugleman,  first 
to  cheat  our  Government,  out  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  next  to  prevent  its  settlement.  He  has 
driven  men  from  their  claims,  and  from  the  coun- 
try, to  stifle  its  efforts  at  settlement.  In  1845  he 
sent  an  express  to  Fort  Hall,  eight  hundred  miles, 


230  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

to  warn  the  emigrants,  if  they  attempted  to  come  to 
the  Willamette,  they  would  all  be  cut  off;  they 
went  and  none  were  cut  off.  How,  sir,  would  you 
reward  Benedict  Arnold,  were  he  living;  he 
fought  the  battles  of  the  country,  yet,  by  one  act 
of  treason,  forfeited  the  respect  of  that  country.  A 
bill  for  his  relief  would  fail,  I  am  sure;  yet  this 
Bill  proposes  to  reward  those  who  are  now,  have 
been,  and  ever  will  be,  more  hostile  to  our  country, 
because  more  Jesuitical." 

"What  Mr.  Thurston  means  by  'warring  against 
our  government  for  these  forty  years,'  I  know  not. 
I  am  certain,  however,  that  the  H.  B.  Co.  had  a 
right  to  carry  on  trade  under  the  treaty  of  joint 
occupation  of  the  country  -  even  were  we  to  look 
no  farther  for  another  foundation  of  the  right.  I 
am  sure,  moreover,  that  the  business  of  the  Com- 
pany was  so  managed  as  to  bear  the  strictest  scru- 
tiny, and  to  be  in  all  respects  subservient  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  country,  and  the  duties  of  reli- 
gion and  humanity.  The  government  and  policy 
of  the  Company  were  such  as  to  render  traveling 
safe,  and  the  Indians  were  friendly  to  whites. 
When  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  first  began  to 
trade  with  these  Indians  they  were  so  hostile  to 
the  whites  that  they  had  to  mount  guard  day  and 
night  at  the  establishment,  have  sentinels  at  the 
gates  to  prevent  any  Indian  entering,  unless  to 
trade,  and  when  they  entered,  to  take  their  arms 
from  them.  The  Columbia  could  not  be  traveled 
in  parties  of  less  than  sixty  well  armed  men;  but, 
by  the  management  of  the  Company,  they  were 
brought  to  that  friendly  disposition  that  two  men, 


Illustrative  Documents  231 

for  several  years  back,  can  travel  in  safety  between 
this  and  Fort  Hall. 

"Mr.  Thurston  is  pleased  to  describe  me  as 
'chief  fugleman  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.' 
This  is  a  term  which  he  probably  gathered  from 
the  vocabulary  in  which  he  found  the  word  'gump- 
tion,' with  which  he  recently  garnished  another 
dish,  and  which  he  seems  to  have  prepared  for 
appetites  similar  to  his  own.  By  the  use  of  this, 
and  such  like  epithets  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  he 
has  a  field  of  literature  which  he  is  likely  to  occupy 
without  a  rival,  and  the  exclusive  possession  of 
which  no  one  will  deny  him.  Neither  my  princi- 
ples nor  my  tastes  lead  me  in  that  direction.  But 
I  am  described  as  a  'fugleman'  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company;  first  to  cheat  our  Government  out 
of  the  whole  country,  and  next  to  prevent  its  settle- 
ment. I  am  an  old  man,  and  my  head  is  very  white 
with  the  frost  of  many  winters,  but  I  have  never 
before  been  accused  as  a  cheat.  I  was  born  a  Brit- 
ish subject  -  I  have  had  for  twenty  years  the  super- 
intendence of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  trade, 
in  Oregon,  and  on  the  North  West  Coast;  and  may 
be  said  to  have  been  the  representative  of  British 
interests  in  this  country;  but  I  have  never  de- 
scended to  court  popularity,  by  pandering  to  prej- 
udice, and  doing  wrong  to  anyone.  I  have,  on  the 
other  hand,  afforded  every  assistance  to  all  who 
required  it,  and  which  religion  and  humanity  dic- 
tated; and  this  community  can  say  if  I  did  so  or 
not.  My  language  to  all  who  spoke  to  me  on  the 
subject  of  politics,  was  that  situated  as  we  were 
we  ought  to  say  nothing  about  the  boundary  ques- 


232  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

tion,  as  that  was  an  affair  of  the  Government;  but 
to  live  as  Christians  in  peace  and  concord,  and  in 
acting  as  I  did  I  consider  that  I  have  rendered 
services  to  the  British  and  American  Governments. 
But  if  I  had  acted  differently,  the  Government 
would  have  had  difficulties,  and  this  community 
would  perhaps  not  have  enjoyed  the  peace  it  has, 
nor  be  in  so  prosperous  a  condition  as  it  is,  and  cer- 
tainly there  is  not  a  man  in  it  who  will  say  that  I 
have  sought  to  prevent  its  settlement.  There  are, 
in  this  Valley,  very  many  persons,  and  especially 
among  the  earliest  immigrants,  of  the  first  years  of 
the  settlement  of  the  country,  who  are  sufficiently 
honest  to  admit  that  the  country  could  never  have 
been  colonized  as  easily  as  it  was,  but  for  the 
timely,  ample,  and  continuous  assistance  rendered 
by  me,  to  them,  with  the  means  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  under  my  charge.  Provisions  were 
sent  to  meet  the  immigrants  -  boats  were  dis- 
patched to  convey  them  down  the  Columbia,  - 
when  arrived  on  their  claims,  cattle  were  loaned 
them  -  they  were  supplied  with  clothing,  food, 
farming  utensils,  and  wheat  for  seed.  Very  many 
of  these  men  honorably  paid,  as  soon  as  they  could; 
others,  though  able  to  pay,  and  though  their  notes 
have  been  standing  for  many  years,  testify  their 
sense  of  the  number  and  magnitude  of  my  favors 
by  signing  a  secret  Memorial  to  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  to  take  from  me  my  property, 
and  to  leave  me  in  the  decline  of  life,  and  in  the 
decrepitude  of  old  age,  to  the  companionship  of 
adders,  who -when  they  were  benumbed  with 
frost,  I  gathered  from  the  hedges  and  warmed 


Illustrative  Documents  233 

into  life,  to  feel,  when  alas!  too  late,  the  stings  of 
their  ingratitude. 

"For  additional  proof,  in  repelling  these  cal- 
umnies, I  could  refer  to  many  sources:  Wilkes' 
Journal,  Fremont's  Narrative,  to  American  trav- 
elers and  writers,  and  to  letters  from  many  and 
many  an  immigrant  to  this  country,  and  now  resi- 
dents in  this  valley,  stating  to  their  friends  in  the 
States  the  kindness  I  had  shewn  them,  and  who,  I 
am  sure,  would  acknowledge  it,  and  are  as  much 
surprised  at  the  charge  brought  against  me  as  I  am 
myself.  But,  moreover,  it  is  well  known  that  the 
fact  of  my  having  aided  in  the  settlement  of  this 
country  has  been  a  subject  of  serious  complaints, 
and  grave  charges  made  against  me,  by  subjects  of 
Her  Britannic  Majesty,  during  the  pending  of  the 
boundary  question  -  who  seem  to  have  been  im- 
bued with  the  same  kind  disposition  toward  their 
fellow  men  as  Mr.  Thurston. 

"Mr.  Thurston  says,  Tn  1845  he  [Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin]  sent  an  express  to  Fort  Hall,  eight 
hundred  miles,  to  warn  the  immigration  that  if 
they  attempted  to  come  to  the  Willamette,  they 
would  be  all  cut  off.'  This  is  a  calumny  as  gratui- 
tous as  it  is  unprovoked;  but  it  is  with  mingled 
emotions  of  astonishment  and  indignation  that  I 
have  accidentally  become  acquainted  with  the  con- 
tents of  another  document,  entitled  a  'Letter  of  the 
Delegate  from  Oregon  to  the  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  in  behalf  of  his  constit- 
uents touching  the  Oregon  Land  Bill.'  On  the 
back  of  the  only  copy  sent,  is  written  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Mr.  Thurston  -  'Keep  this  still  till  next 


234  -Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

mail,  when  I  shall  send  them  generally.  The  de- 
bate on  the  California  Bill  closes  next  Tuesday, 
when  I  hope  to  get  it  and  passed -my  land  bill; 
keep  dark  till  next  mail. 

"  'Thurston.'  " 

'-June  9,  1850.'" 

"In  the  paragraph  already  quoted  from  the 
Globe  of  June  30,  Mr.  Thurston  affirms  that  I  am 
a  more  dangerous  man  than  Benedict  Arnold  was; 
because,  as  he  states,  I  am  more  'Jesuitical.'  Web- 
ster, the  celebrated  American  Lexicographer,  de- 
fines Jesuitism  thus:  'Cunning,  deceit,  prevarica- 
tion, deceptive  practices'- yet  this  same  man,  Mr. 
Thurston,  who  bestows  epithets  upon  me  without 
stint  and  beyond  measure;  who  accuses  me  of  be- 
ing 'Jesuitical,'  and  who  occupies  the  situation  of  a 
grave  legislator,  admits  that  his  measures  will  not 
bear  the  light  of  truth,  and  he  requires  his  friend 
to  keep  still,  until  he  shall  complete  the  perpe- 
tration of  a  deed  of  wickedness.  Is  this  not  the 
cunning  of  the  fox?  who  prowls  around  in  the 
darkness,  that  he  may  rob  the  hen-roost  of  the 
farmer  while  he  is  sleeping,  without  a  suspicion  of 
a  meditated  evil.  Is  not  the  sending  of  such  a  doc- 
ument, with  the  request  written  upon  it  to  keep 
'dark,'  a  deceptive  practice,  within  the  very  letter 
and  meaning  of  Webster's  definition  of  Jesuitism? 
Mr.  Thurston,  it  appears,  was  afraid  of  the  light 
of  facts,  which  he  did  not  desire  to  have  commu- 
nicated to  the  Government  at  Washington,  before 
he  completed  an  act  of  contemplated  wrong  doing. 

"In  the  letter  referred  to,  speaking  of  Oregon 
City,  he  says,  'The  Methodist  Mission  first  took  the 


Illustrative  Documents  i^S 

claim  with  the  view  of  establishing  here  their 
Mills  and  Mission  -  they  were  forced  to  leave  it 
under  the  fear  of  having  the  savages  of  Oregon  let 
loose  upon  them.'  This  charge  is  likewise  without 
a  fraction  of  truth,  as  a  few  facts  will  demonstrate. 
In  1829,  I  commenced  making  preparations  at  the 
falls  of  the  Willamette,  for  building  a  sawmill.  I 
had  a  party  residing  there  during  the  winter  of 
1829  and  1830.  This  party,  in  my  employment, 
and  paid  with  my  money,  built  three  houses,  and 
prepared  the  timber  for  the  erection  of  a  mill. 
Circumstances  rendered  the  suspension  of  the  mill 
for  a  while  necessary.  In  the  spring  of  1830  I 
commenced  cultivating  the  ground  at  the  Falls. 
In  the  year  1832  I  had  a  mill  race  blasted  out  of 
the  rocks,  from  near  the  head  of  the  island  which 
Mr.  Thurston  calls  Abernethy  Island -but  Mr. 
Thurston  found  it  convenient  to  conceal  from  the 
United  States  Government  that  Mr.  Abernethy 
and  others  purchased  the  island  from  F.  Hatha- 
way, who  jumped  the  island  in  the  first  instance, 
and  that  Judge  Bryant  and  Gov.  Lane  finally  pur- 
chased whatever  right  Mr.  Abernethy  had  ac- 
quired. The  Indians  having  burnt  in  1829  the 
timber  which  during  that  same  year  had  been  pre- 
pared for  the  erection  of  the  mill,  I  had,  in  the 
summer  of  1838,  another  house  built  at  the  Falls; 
during  the  same  year  I  had  squared  timber  pre- 
pared and  hauled  to  the  place  at  which  I  had  or- 
iginally proposed  to  erect  a  mill;  the  erection  of 
the  mill  was  again  postponed.  In  1840  the  Rev. 
Jason  Lee,  superintendent  of  the  Methodist  Mis- 
sion in  Oregon,  applied  to  me  for  the  loan  of  some 


126  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


of  the  above  mentioned  timber,  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  a  Mission  building.  To  this  request  I 
assented,  and  at  the  same  time  sent  Dr.  F.  W.  Tol- 
mie  to  point  out  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  the  spot  upon 
which  he  might  build.  Up  to  this  time,  it  should 
be  observed  that  no  effort  had  been  made  to  inter- 
fere with  my  claim,  and  no  one  called  in  question 
my  perfect  right  to  make  it.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind,  too,  that  I  commenced  improving  in 
1829,  and  that  the  missionaries  did  not  come  here 
till  1834.  To  prevent,  however,  any  future  mis- 
understanding, growing  out  of  any  occupancy  of 
sufferance,  I  handed  Mr.  Lee  a  letter,  dated  Van- 
couver, 2 1  St  July,  1840,  in  which  I  described  the 
extent  of  my  claim,  as  embracing  'the  upper  end 
of  the  Falls,  across  to  the  Clackamas  Falls,  in  the 
Willamette,  including  the  whole  point  of  land  and 
the  small  Island  in  the  falls,  on  which  the  portage 
is  made  and  which  I  intend  to  claim  when  the 
boundary  line  is  drawn.'  The  words  italicised  are 
not  so  in  the  original.  I  now  do  this  to  call  atten- 
tion to  them.  Up  to  this  time  no  one  but  myself 
claimed  the  island.  Mr.  Lee  promised  to  return 
the  timber  he  procured  to  erect  the  building,  with 
the  wood  thus  loaned  Mr.  Waller  and  family,  who 
were  placed  in  it  by  Mr.  Lee.  I  gave  Mr.  Lee 
permission  to  occupy,  as  a  mission  store  room,  a 
house  I  had  got  erected  for  myself.  Up  to  1841 
my  claim  to  the  island  had  never  been  interfered 
with;  in  this  year  Mr.  Felix  Hathaway  put  some 
logs  on  the  island.  I  gave  him  notice  of  my  claim, 
and  erected  a  small  house  upon  the  island.  Hath- 
away finally  proceeded  with  his  building.     I  did 


Illustrative  Documents  237 


not  forcibly  eject  him  because  I  wished  to  preserve 
the  peace  of  the  country.  In  the  autumn  of  1842, 
I  first  heard  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Waller,  as  I  was  in- 
formed, set  up  a  claim  in  conflict  with  mine,  (not 
for  the  Mission,  but  in  his  own  name.)  I  subse- 
quently bought  off  Mr.  Waller,  in  the  same  anx- 
ious desire  to  preserve  the  peace. 

"In  conclusion  of  this  part  of  the  subject  I  will 
remark  that  when  Mr.  Waller  requested  Capt.  W. 
K.  Kilbourn,  who  resides  in  this  place,  to  assist 
him  in  putting  up  the  logs  which  I  had  loaned  to 
Mr.  Lee,  Capt.  Kilbourn  said  to  him:  'I  will  not 
assist  to  build  the  house,  if  you  intend  to  set  up  any 
claim  here.'  Mr.  Waller  disavowed  any  such  in- 
tention. 

"In  1842  I  had  the  claim  surveyed  by  Mr.  Huds- 
path,  and  laid  off  some  lots;  in  the  fall  of  1843, 
there  being  better  instruments  in  the  country,  I  had 
my  claim  surveyed  by  Jesse  Applegate,  Esq.,  who 
more  accurately  marked  its  streets,  alleys,  lots,  etc., 
etc.  When  the  Oregon  Provisional  Government 
was  formed,  I  recorded  my  claim  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  its  organic  laws;  this  record 
covers  the  island  and  the  site  of  Oregon  City.  In 
making  this  record,  I  circumscribed  the  limits  of 
my  claim,  so  that  instead  of  extending  down  to  the 
Clackamas  River,  as  I  had  made  it  previous  to 
there  being  any  government  in  the  country,  I  made 
it  so  as  to  extend  only  about  half  way  down.  This 
I  did  because  the  Organic  Law  provided  that  no 
one  should  hold  more  than  six  hundred  and  forty 
acres.  This  I  did  also  for  the  sake  of  peace,  not- 
withstanding  Mr.   Thurston    is   not    ashamed   to 


238  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


more  than  intimate  a  disposition  to  'let  loose  upon 
them  savages  of  Oregon.'  Mr.  Thurston  says, 
'He  has  held  it  by  violence  and  dint  of  threats  up 
to  this  time.'  -  That  I  have  held  my  claim  or  any 
part  of  it  by  violence  or  threats,  no  man  will  as- 
sert, and  far  less  will  one  be  found  to  swear  so,  who 
will  be  believed  on  his  oath,  in  a  court  of  justice. 
I  have  probably  no  other  enemy  than  Mr.  Thurs- 
ton, so  lost  to  the  suggestions  of  conscience  as  to 
make  a  statement  so  much  at  variance  with  my 
whole  character. 

"He  says  that  I  have  realized,  up  to  the  4th  of 
March,  1849,  $200,000  from  the  sale  of  lots;  this  is 
also  wholly  untrue.  I  have  given  away  lots  to  the 
Methodists,  Catholics,  Presbyterians,  Congrega- 
tionalists,  and  Baptists.  I  have  given  8  lots  to  a 
Roman  Catholic  Nunnery,  8  lots  to  the  Clackamas 
Female  Protestant  Seminary,  incorporated  by  the 
Oregon  Legislature.  The  Trustees  are  all  Protes- 
tants, although  it  is  well  known  I  am  a  Roman 
Catholic.  In  short,  in  one  way  and  another  I  have 
donated  to  the  county,  to  schools,  to  churches,  and 
private  individuals,  more  than  three  hundred  town 
lots,  and  I  never  realized  in  cash  $20,000,  from  all 
the  original  sales  I  have  made.  He  continues, 
'He  is  still  an  Englishman,  still  connected  with  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  refuses  to  file  his  in- 
tentions to  become  an  American  citizen.'  If  I  was 
an  Englishman,  I  know  no  reason  why  I  should  not 
acknowledge  it;  but  I  am  a  Canadian  by  birth,  and 
an  Irishman  by  descent.  I  am  neither  ashamed  of 
my  birth-place  or  lineage -but  it  has  always  ap- 
peared to  me  that  a  man  who  can  only  boast  of  his 
country  has  little  to  be  proud  of: 


Illustrative  Documents  239 


"  'A  wit's  a  feather,  a  chief,  a  rod  - 
An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God.'  " 

"I  was  a  Chief  Factor  in  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany's service,  and  by  the  rules  of  the  Company, 
enjoy  a  retired  interest,  as  a  matter  of  right.  -  Capt. 
McNeil,  a  native  born  citizen  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  holds  the  same  rank  as  I  held  in  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  service.  He  never  was 
required  to  become  a  British  subject;  he  will  be  en- 
titled, by  the  laws  of  the  Company,  to  the  same  re- 
tired interest,  no  matter  to  what  country  he  may 
owe  allegiance. 

"I  declared  my  intention  to  become  an  Ameri- 
can citizen  on  the  30th  May,  1849,  as  any  one  may 
see  who  will  examine  the  records  of  the  court,  in 
this  place.  Mr.  Thurston  knew  this  fact -he 
asked  me  for  my  vote  and  influence.  Why  did  he 
ask  me  for  my  vote  if  I  had  not  one  to  give?  I 
voted  and  voted  against  him,  as  he  well  knew,  and 
as  he  seems  well  to  remember.  But  he  proceeds 
to  refer  to  Judge  Bryant  for  the  truth  of  his  state- 
ment, in  which  he  affirms  that  I  assigned  to  Judge 
Bryant,  as  a  reason  why  I  still  refuse  to  declare  my 
intention  to  become  an  American  citizen,  that  I 
cannot  do  it  without  prejudicing  my  standing  in 
England.  I  am  astonished  how  the  Supreme 
Judge  could  have  made  such  a  statement!  as  he 
had  a  letter  from  me  pointing  out  my  intention  of 
becoming  an  American  citizen.  The  cause,  which 
led  to  my  writing  this  letter,  is  that  the  island, 
called  Abernethy's  Island  by  Mr.  Thurston,  and 
which  he  proposes  to  donate  to  Mr.  Abernethy,  his 
heirs  and  assigns,  is  the  same  island  which  Mr. 
Hathaway  and  others  jumped  in  1841,  and  formed 


240  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


themselves  into  a  joint  stock  company,  and  erected 
a  saw  and  grist  mill  on  it,  as  already  stated.  From 
a  desire  to  preserve  peace  in  the  country,  I  deferred 
bringing  the  case  to  trial,  till  the  government  ex- 
tended its  jurisdiction  over  the  country;  but  when 
it  had  done  so,  a  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  Judge 
Bryant  and  before  the  courts  were  organized, 
Judge  Bryant  bought  the  island  of  George  Aber- 
nethy,  Esq.,  who  had  bought  the  stock  of  the  other 
associates,  and  as  the  Island  was  in  Judge  Bryant's 
district,  and  as  there  was  only  two  judges  in  the 
Territory,  I  thought  I  could  not  at  the  time  bring 
the  case  to  a  satisfactory  decision.  I  therefore  de- 
ferred bringing  the  case  forward  to  a  time  when 
the  bench  would  be  full.  In  July  or  August,  1849, 
Gov.  Lane  told  me  Judge  Bryant  would  speak  to 
me  in  regard  to  my  claim  on  the  Island;  the  Judge 
did  so  and  asked  me  to  state  the  extent  of  my  claim. 
To  avoid  mistakes  and  misunderstandings,  to 
which  verbal  communications  are  subject,  I  told 
him  I  would  write  him,  and  accordingly  addressed 
him  the  following  letter: 

"Oregon  City,  21st  Aug.  1849." 

''To  the  Hon.  W .  P.  Bryant: 

''Sir- 
"I  hasten  to  comply  with  your  request,  'that  I  state 
the  extent  of  my  claim  to  the  Island  within  ten 
days,'  and  I  beg  to  refer  you  to  the  books  of  re- 
corded land  claims,  kept  by  Theo.  McGruder, 
Esq.,  for  the  extent  of  my  claim;  and  I  shall  expect 
a  transfer  of  the  fee  simple  of  the  whole  ground, 
with  all  and  every  privilege  from  the  United  States 


Illustrative  Documents  241 


of  America,  as  soon  as  it  shall  meet  the  pleasure  of 
my  adopted  government  to  act  in  the  matter. 
"I  have  the  honor  to  be 

"Your  obedient  humble  servant, 

[Signed^       "JOHN  McLoUGHLIN." 

"This  letter  was  handed  to  Judge  Bryant  by  J. 
D.  Holman,  Esq.,  and  it  seems  quite  incompre- 
hensible to  me,  how,  after  receiving  and  perusing 
this  letter,  Judge  Bryant  could  corroborate  (if  he 
did  so)  Mr.  Thurston's  statement,  that  I  had  de- 
clined to  file  my  intention  to  become  an  American 
citizen.     I  filed  my  intention  on  the  30th  May. 
Mr.  Thurston  left  this  (Territory)  in  August,  and 
Judge  Bryant  in  October.     Is  it  probable!  nay,  is 
it  possible!   in  so  small  a  place   as  Oregon  City, 
where  every  little  occurrence  is  so  soon  known - 
where  the  right  of  voting  is  so  scrutinized  -  that  I 
should  have  voted,  and  against  Mr.  Thurston,  and 
that  his  partisans  and  supporters  did  not  inform 
him  of  it,  or  that  Judge  Bryant  did  not  know  that 
I  had  filed  my  intention  to  become  an  American 
citizen?     But  Mr.  Thurston  makes  another  state- 
ment in  which  there  is  not  more  truth.     He  says, 
'Last  summer  he,'  meaning  myself,  'informed  the 
writer  of  this  that  whatever  was  made  out  of  the 
claim  was  to  go  to  the  common  fund  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  of  which  he  and  other  stock- 
holders would  share  in  proportion  to  their  stock; 
in  other  words,  that  he  was  holding  this  claim  in 
trust  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.' 

"Mr.  Thurston  had  just  before  said  that  I  had 
made  for  myself  $200,000  from  the  sale  of  lots ;  but 


242  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


now  after  having  made  my  conservative  purse 
vastly  capacious  finds  it  convenient  to  shrivel  it  up 
by  transferring  this  cheering  amount  of  coin  to  the 
coffers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  I  assert 
I  never  made  such  a  statement  to  Mr.  Thurston, 
and  I  assert  that  I  hold  my  claim  for  myself  alone, 
and  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  nor  no  other 
person  or  persons,  hold  or  have  any  interest  in  it 
with  me. 

"Mr.  Thurston  says  that  on  the  4th  March,  1849, 
Governor  Lane  apprised  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  all 
others  that  no  one  had  a  right  to  sell  or  meddle 
with  government  lands.  This  is  given  as  a  reason 
why  every  man  that  has  bought  a  lot  since  that  time 
shall  lose  it.  If  by  this  statement  anything  more  is 
meant  than  at  that  date  the  Territorial  government 
was  put  in  operation,  then  it  is  wholly  untrue;  but 
were  it  otherwise,  what  is  the  motive  for  the  com- 
mission of  such  an  act  of  injustice  that  necessarily 
involves  in  pecuniary  loss  half  the  inhabitants  of 
this  place,  in  addition  to  many  who  do  not  reside 
here?  Mr.  Thurston  says,  Abernethy's  Island  is  in 
the  middle  of  the  river.  Such  a  statement  could 
only  be  made  to  persons  unacquainted  with  this 
place,  and  conveys  a  wrong  impression,  as  every 
one  who  knows  the  place  will  admit  the  island  is 
not  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  but  separated  from 
the  main  land  only  by  a  chasm  over  which  there  is 
a  bridge  about  100  feet  long.  In  the  dry  season, 
the  stream  is  not  more  than  forty  feet  broad  at  the 
Falls,  which  separates  it  from  the  main  land,  and 
can  the  people  of  Oregon  City  and  its  vicinity  be- 
lieve Mr.  Thurston  did  not  know,  some  months 


Illustrative  Documents  243 

before  he  left  this,  that  Mr.  Abernethy  had  sold 
his  rights,  whatever  they  were,  to  Judge  Bryant, 
and  therefore  proposing  to  Congress  to  donate  this 
Island  to  Mr.  Abernethy,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  was, 
in  fact,  proposing  to  donate  it  to  Judge  Bryant,  his 
heirs  and  assigns. 

"JNO.  MCLOUGHLIN." 
"  [At  the  request  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  we  stepped 
into  the  Clerk's  office  and  read  upon  a  paper  filed 
in  the  office  that  on  the  30th  day  of  May,  1849, 
John  McLoughlin  filed  his  intention  to  become  an 
American  citizen,  and  that  the  said  paper  was 
duly  certified  to,  by  the  then  acting  Clerk,  Geo.  L. 
Curry. -Ed.]" 

DOCUMENT    M 

Letter    by    William    J.    Berry,  published    in  the 

''Oregon  Spectator,"  December  26,  l8S0. 
"Forest  Creek,  Polk  Co.,  December  15,  1850." 
''Mr.  Editor: 

"Truth  crush'd  to  earth,  shall  rise  again: 
The  eternal  years  of  God  are  hers; 
But  error,  wounded,  withers  with  pain, 
And  dies  among  his  worshippers." 
"Believing  that  the  characters  of  public  men  are 
public  property,  I  desire,  with  your  permission,  to 
speak  through  the  columns  of  the  'Spectator'  about 
some  of  the  doings  of  our  Delegate  in  Congress. 

"I  am  dissatisfied  with  his  course  in  regard  to 
the  'Oregon  City  Claim.'  And  now  permit  me  to 
say,  that  I  am  not  influenced  in  this  matter  by  mer- 
cenary motives  of  any  kind.     I  never  owned  any 


244  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


property  in  or  about  Oregon  City,  nor  do  I  ever 
expect  to ;  but  I  am  influenced  by  motives  of  a  cer- 
tain kind,  v^hich  are :  the  veneration  I  feel  for  the 
sacred  principles  of  truth  and  justice,  -  and  the 
mortification  I  feel  at  seeing  these  principles  not 
only  overlooked,  but  indignantly  trampled  under 
foot. 

"Up  to  the  time  of  writing  his  celebrated  'letter 
to  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,' 
I,  in  common  with  a  large  portion  of  the  people 
here,  was  led  to  admire  the  ability,  the  zeal,  and 
industry,  with  which  Mr.  Thurston  conducted  the 
business  of  this  Territory.  But  in  that  portion  of 
said  letter,  where  he  speaks  of  the  Oregon  City 
claim,  I  think  he  has  placed  himself  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  old  cow,  who,  after  giving  a  fine  pail  of 
milk,  kicked  it  all  over.  With  the  disposal  of  said 
claim  as  contemplated  in  the  bill,  I  have  no  fault 
to  find;  but  with  the  means  employed  by  Mr. 
Thurston  to  effect  that  end,  I  do  find  most  serious 
fault. 

"Some  of  these  I  will  notice.  Speaking  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin,  he  says:  'He  still  refuses  to  file  his 
intentions  to  become  an  American  citizen.'  Now, 
I  assert  that  Mr.  Thurston  knew,  previous  to  the 
election,  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  filed  his  inten- 
tions. I  heard  him  say  in  a  stump  speech,  at  the 
City  Hotel,  that  he  expected  his  (the  Doctor's) 
vote.  At  the  election  I  happened  to  be  one  of  the 
Judges;  Dr.  McLoughlin  came  up  to  vote;  the 
question  was  asked  by  myself,  if  he  had  filed  his 
intentions?  The  Clerk  of  the  Court,  George  L. 
Curry,  Esq.,  who  was  standing  near  the  window, 


Illustrative  Documents  245 

said  that  he  had.  He  voted.  Some  time  after  the 
election,  when  I  was  holding  the  office  of  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  in  Oregon  City,  Mr.  Thurston  came 
to  me,  in  company  with  a  man  whose  name  I  have 
forgotten,  having  an  affidavit  already  prepared 
which  he  wished  sworn  to,  and  subscribed  by  this 
man ;  which  was  done.  Said  affidavit  went  to  state 
that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  written  a  letter,  or  let- 
ters, to  some  French  settlers  north  of  the  Columbia, 
directing  them  to  oppose  Thurston  and  vote  for 
Lancaster,  &c.,  &c.  I  merely  mention  this  circum- 
stance to  show  that  Mr.  Thurston  knew  exactly 
how  Dr.  McLoughlin  stood.  The  assertion  of 
Mr.  Thurston  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  has  'worked 
diligently  to  break  down  the  settlements,'  is  also 
without  foundation.  There  are  scores  of  persons 
in  this  valley  of  the  early  emigrants,  who  testify  to 
the  kindness  received  at  the  hands  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin.  And  many  there  are  who  would 
doubtless  have  perished  had  it  not  been  for  his 
humane  attention.  He  helped  them  to  descend  the 
Columbia -fed  them,  clothed  them;  and  now  he 
is  accused  of  'working  diligently  to  break  down  the 
settlements!' 

"I  shall  notice  but  one  more  of  Mr.  Thurston's 
assertions  in  regard  to  this  claim.  Mr.  Thurston 
says :  'The  Methodist  Mission  first  took  this  claim.' 
Now  this  is  an  assertion  which  any  one  who  knows 
anything  about  the  history  of  Oregon  City,  knows 
to  be  utterly  without  foundation.  -  On  the  contrary 
the  said  Methodist  Mission  never  had  a  right  to 
any  part  of  said  claim,  unless  jumping  constitutes 
right. 


2^6  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


"In  what  I  have  said  about  Dr.  McLoughlin,  I 
have  not  spoken  from  interested  motives.  I  never 
received  any  favor  at  his  hands,  nor  do  I  expect  to. 
But  I  am  ashamed  of  the  course  of  our  Delegate; 
I  think  it  is  unbecoming  the  Representative  of  a 
magnanimous  people. 

"What  must  be  the  feelings  of  Dr.  McLoughlin? 
A  man  whose  head  is  whitened  by  the  frosts  of  per- 
haps eighty  winters !  Who,  during  that  long  period 
has  been  living  subject  to  the  nation  under  whose 
flag  he  was  born.  And  who,  at  that  advanced  age 
declares  his  intention  of  becoming  a  citizen  of  our 
great  Republic.  -  I  say  what  must  be  his  feelings? 
and  what  must  be  the  feelings  of  all  candid  men  - 
of  all  men  of  honor  and  magnanimity,  who  have 
read  Mr.  Thurston's  letter.  And  yet  this  same 
Honorable  (?)  Delegate  in  his  address  to  his  con- 
stituents lectures  us  upon  Religion  and  Morality. 
"Very  respectfully,  yours, 

"Wm.  J.  Berry." 


DOCUMENT    N 

Excerpts  from  speech  of  Samuel  R.  Thurston  itt 

Congress,  December  26,  1 8^0. 

December  26,  1850,  Thurston  attempted  to  an- 
swer, by  a  speech  in  Congress,  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
letter,  published  in  the  Oregon  Spectator^  Septem- 
ber 12,  1850.  It  is  a  scurrilous  speech.  Most  of 
its  asserted  statements  of  fact  are  untrue.  It  is  too 
long  to  be  set  forth  here  in  full.  It  will  be  found 
at  pages  36  to  45  of  the  Appendix  to  volume  23  of 


Illustrative  Documents  247 

the  Congressional  Globe.  The  italics  in  this  Doc- 
ument N  are  those  appearing  in  the  Congressional 
Globe. 

He  first  discussed  the  petition  of  the  fifty-six  per- 
sons who  signed  the  petition  at  Oregon  City,  Sep- 
tember 19,  1850,  against  the  passage  of  the  eleventh 
section  of  the  Donation  Land  Bill,  and  attempted 
to  show  that  the  petition  was  against  Dr. 
McLoughlin  instead  of  being  in  his  favor.  This 
was  pettifogging.  Thurston  set  forth  that  he  had 
not  been  in  favor  of  recognizing  in  the  bill  trans- 
fers of  land  by  Dr.  McLoughlin  after  March  3, 
1849,  for  the  reason  that  "If  such  transfers  were 
confirmed  in  general  terms,  up  to  the  passage  of  the 
bill,  the  whole  of  what  the  Doctor  claimed  would 
be  covered  by  fictitious  transfers  for  his  benefit." 
Thurston  attacked  J.  Quinn  Thornton  and  Aaron 
E.  Wait,  the  attorneys  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  and 
called  them  names  too  vile  to  be  inserted  in  this 
address. 

Referring  to  Dr.  McLoughlin's  statement  in  his 
letter  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  business 
was  so  managed  "in  all  respects  subservient  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  country,  and  the  duties  of  reli- 
gion and  humanity,"  Thurston  said :  "If  to  make 
the  settler  pay  ivith  his  life  the  penalty  of  settling 
where  they  did  not  want  him  to,  or  to  oppress  him 
until  he  was  compelled  to  yield;  if  tearing  down 
houses  over  families'  heads,  and  burning  them  up, 
and  leaving  a  poor  woman  in  the  rain,  houseless 
and  homeless;  if  attempting  to  break  down  all 
American  enterprises,  and  to  prevent  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country -if,  sir,  to  do  all  these  things, 


248  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


and  many  more,  which  are  hereafter  proved,  then 
is  the  quotation  true.  If  this  is  their  religion,  then 
have  they  adorned,  for  the  last  ten  years,  the  reli- 
gion they  profess."  These  charges  are  maliciously 
false. 

Thurston  charged  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  was 
"for  all  practical  purposes,  as  much  in,  of,  and  con- 
nected with  the  [Hudson's  Bay]  Company  as  he 
ever  was  .  .  .  yet  he  comes  up  here  with  a 
hypocritical  face  and  pleads  poverty!  and  says  that 
he  has  picked  up  my  people  out  of  ditches,  mud- 
puddles,  from  under  the  ice,  and  warmed  them 
into  life;  which  Wait  and  Thornton  virtually  tes- 
tify to.  .  .  .  Who  ever  heard  a  Jew  or  a  Gypsy 
making  up  a  more  pitiful  face  than  this."  Thurs- 
ton further  said  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  persuaded 
some  of  the  immigrants  of  1842  to  go  to  Califor- 
nia; that  he  provided  outfits  for  them  "and  took 
notes,  payable  in  California.  And  this  was  done 
for  the  purpose  of  ridding  the  country  of  these  un- 
welcome visitors.  .  .  .  That  the  Doctor  was 
determined  to  do  all  he  could  to  prevent  the  coun- 
try from  finally  settling  up,  and  with  this  object 
in  view,  undertook  to  persuade  our  early  settlers  to 
leave."  This  is  absolutely  untrue,  except  the  part 
that  Dr.  McLoughlin  furnished  said  immigrants 
with  outfits  and  took  their  notes  payable  in  Cali- 
fornia.    Most  of  these  notes  were  never  paid. 

Thurston  then  proceeds  to  pettifog  about  his  in- 
junction to  keep  his  letter  to  Congress  about  the 
Donation  Land  Bill  "dark  till  next  mail."  He 
had  to  pettifog  or  say  it  was  a  forgery.  He  said 
he  wrote  this  as  he  feared  the  bill  "never  would 


Illustrative  Documents  "249 

pass,  and  I  dreaded  the  effect  the  news  of  its  fail- 
ure, on  the  first  day,  would  have  on  business  of  the 
territory.  ...  It  was  to  avoid  the  general 
panic  that  I  adopted  this  course  and  this  is  why  I 
requested  to  have  nothing  said  till  the  time  of  trial 
might  come."  ^^  Thurston  was  compelled  to  admit 
that  he  knew  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  taken  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States  prior  to  the 
election  in  June,  1849,  but  Thurston  said  he  did 
not  know  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  filed  his  in- 
tentions to  become  a  citizen.  Thurston  endeav- 
ored to  justify  himself  by  technicalities.  He  knew 
that  the  Circuit  Courts  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment had  ceased  to  exist  May  13,  1849,  or  prior 
thereto.  It  was  on  that  day  that  Governor  Lane 
assigned  the  Territorial  judges,  appointed  by  the 
President,  to  their  respective  districts.  Yet  Thurs- 
ton asserted  that  "The  court,  or  the  tribunal,  in 
which  Dr.  McLoughlin  took  his  oaths  was  not  such 
a  court  as  the  law  requires,  but  was  a  creature  of 
the  Provisional  Government."  He  asserted  that 
George  L.  Curry,  the  Clerk  of  the  court,  before 
whom  Dr.  McLoughlin  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
and  filed  his  intentions  to  become  an  American  cit- 
izen, did  it  in  his  capacity  as  a  clerk  of  a  court  of 
the  Provisional  Government  (which  was  no  longer 
in  existence),  instead  of  in  the  capacity  of  a  clerk 
of  the  new  Territorial  court,  and  said  that  Judge 
Bryant  informed  him  that  this  was  the  case. 

May  30,  1849,  George  L.  Curry,  if  not  the  de 
jure  clerk,  was  the  de  facto  and  acting  clerk  of  the 

"  See    Document    L,    where    this    injunction    by    Thurston,    written 
on  the  copy  of  his  letter,  is  set  forth  in  full. 


250  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Territorial  District  Court,  before  whom  it  was 
lawful  and  proper  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
under  the  United  States  naturalization  law.  If, 
for  any  reason.  Dr.  McLoughlin  did  not  comply 
technically  with  the  law,  it  was  nevertheless  his 
intention  to  do  so.  He  subscribed  and  filed  two 
oaths  on  May  30,  1849.  In  these  he  swore  it  was 
his  intention  to  become  an  American  citizen  and 
that  "I  renounce  all  allegiance  and  fidelity  to  any 
foreign  Prince,  Potentate,  State  and  Sovereignty, 
whatsoever  and  particularly  to  Victoria,  Queen  of 
the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
and  that  I  will  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  provisions  of  'An  Act  to 
establish  the  Territorial  Government  of  Oregon.'  " 
Under  these  oaths,  or  one  of  them,  Dr.  McLough- 
lin became  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  Septem- 
ber 5,  1 85 1.  In  admitting  him  to  citizenship  the 
Judge  must  have  found  that  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
original  declaration  was  sufficient  and  was  filed  in 
a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction.  And  yet  Thurs- 
ton had  said  in  his  letter  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives and  in  his  speech  of  May  28,  1850,  that 
Dr.  McLoughlin  "refuses  to  become  an  American 
citizen." 

In  this  speech  of  December  26,  1850,  Thurston 
said  that  if  any  persons  in  Oregon  owed  money  to 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  he  could  proceed  in  the  Courts. 
This  is  true.  The  difficulty  was  to  enforce  judg- 
ments. Judgments  could  not  then  or  prior  to  that 
time  and  until  long  afterwards  be  enforced  against 
land.  An  execution  could  only  reach  personal 
property.     If  a  debtor  did  not  wish  to  pay  a  debt, 


Illustrative  Documents  251 

he  could  sell  his  crops  privately  in  advance,  or  he 
could  cover  them  and  other  personal  property 
by  chattel  mortgages.  Thurston  as  a  lawyer  knew 
the  law.  The  law  establishing  the  Territorial 
Government  of  Oregon  provided  that  "all  laws 
heretofore  passed  in  said  Territory  [z.e.,  by  the 
Provisional  Government]  making  grants  of  land, 
or  otherwise  affecting  or  incumbering  the  title  to 
lands,  shall  be,  and  are  hereby  declared  to  be,  null 
and  void." 

Under  the  Donation  Land  Law  a  settler  on  pub- 
lic land  had  merely  a  possessory  right  which  did 
not  ripen  into  a  title  to  the  land  until  he  had  "re- 
sided upon  and  cultivated  the  same  for  four  consec- 
utive years."  It  was  an  estate  upon  condition.  It 
was  not  subject  to  execution  sale.  If  such  a  sale 
could  have  been  made,  under  a  law  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Oregon,  a  purchaser  would  take  nothing  - 
not  even  the  possessory  right  of  a  settler.®^  The  set- 
tler was  the  only  one  who  could  complete  the  four 
years'  residence  and  cultivation.  In  fact,  it  was  a 
long  time  after  the  passage  of  the  law  before  a  land 
claim  could  be  lawfully  taken  up.  The  settlers 
really  held  a  kind  of  squatter's  title  until  the  Sur- 
veyor-General was  ready  to  proceed  or  to  receive 
applications  for  surveys.  The  first  notifications 
were  not  filed  until  1852.  Besides,  the  statute  of 
limitations,  for  bringing  suit  on  these  debts,  did  not 
exceed  six  years. 

The  case  of  McLoughlin  v.  Hoover,  i  Oregon 
Reports,  32,  was  decided  at  the  December  term, 
1853,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory  of 

"*  Hall  V.  Russell,  loi  U.  S.,  503. 


2  5^  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Oregon.  This  case  shows  that  Dr.  McLoughlin 
did  bring  a  suit  shortly  after  September  29,  1852, 
the  exact  date  not  being  given  in  the  decision, 
against  John  Hoover  to  recover  from  Hoover  a 
promissory  note  for  $560  dated  October  2,  1845, 
and  payable  one  year  after  date.  Hoover  pleaded 
the  Statute  of  Limitations.  It  was  held  by  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Oregon  Territory  that  at  no 
time  under  the  Provisional  or  Territorial  govern- 
ments of  Oregon  was  the  statute  of  limitations  to  re- 
cover on  notes  and  accounts  for  a  longer  period 
than  six  years.  But  by  reason  of  amendments  of  the 
law,  that  the  statute  of  limitations  did  not  run  a 
longer  period  than  three  years  succeeding  the  act 
of  September  29,  1849.  The  full  six  years  from  the 
time  said  note  became  due  would  end  October  5, 
1853,  counting  three  days  of  grace,  but  under  this 
decision  the  statute  of  limitations  had  run  Sep- 
tember 29,  1852,  being  less  than  five  years  from  the 
time  said  note  became  due.  The  statute  of  limita- 
tions does  not  extinguish  a  debt.  It  merely  stops 
the  collection  of  it  by  law. 

In  this  speech  Thurston  was  compelled  to  ad- 
mit that  he  had  no  proper  foundation  for  the  state- 
ment in  his  letter  to  Congress  that  Dr.  McLough- 
lin had  sent  word  to  Fort  Hall  to  turn  the  immigra- 
tion to  California.  He  said  in  this  speech  that  the 
immigrants  to  Oregon  "at  a  very  early  period,  per- 
haps as  early  as  1842  or  1843,  were  met  with  the 
tale  that  the  Indians  were  hostile  to  the  immi- 
grants ;  that  they  would  be  cut  ofif  if  they  proceeded 
further  on  the  Oregon  trail ;  and  that  this  story  was 
told  by  the  officer  in  charge  of  Fort  Hall,  as  hav- 


Illustrative  Documents  253 

ing  been  received  from  Vancouver,  [the  head- 
quarters of  Dr.  McLoughlin]  and  that  this  same 
officer  advised  the  emigrants  to  go  to  California." 
This  statement  is  not  borne  out  by  the  facts.  That 
there  was  danger  to  the  immigrants  in  coming  to 
Oregon  is  shown  by  the  intended  massacre  of  the 
immigrants  of  1843,  as  set  forth  in  this  address 
and  in  the  McLoughlin  Document. 

Thurston,  in  this  speech,  took  up  the  Shortess 
petition  and  read  numerous  parts  of  it.  He  said 
in  reference  to  the  phrase  that  the  petitioners 
hoped  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  never  would  own  his 
land  claim,  that  that  is  ''just  what  the  land  bill  pro- 
vides for."  Referring  to  the  assertion  in  the  Shor- 
tess petition  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  "says  the  land  is 
his,  and  every  person  building  without  his  permis- 
sion is  held  as  a  trespasser,"  Thurston  said :  "What 
do  you  think  of  this,  Mr.  Speaker?  An  English- 
man holding  an  American  citizen  a  trespasser  for 
settling  on  American  soil,  where  the  American 
Government  had  invited  him!  This,  sir,  was  be- 
fore the  treaty  [of  1846]  and  before  the  Provisional 
Government  was  formed,  and  when  one  American 
citizen  had  as  good  a  right  to  settle  there  as  another, 
and  all  a  better  right  than  Dr.  McLoughlin.  Yet 
this  barefaced  Jesuit  has  the  effrontery  to  pretend 
he  did  not  hold  that  claim  by  dint  of  threats." 
Thurston  does  not  explain  how  the  American  Gov- 
ernment invited  the  immigrants  prior  to  1847  to 
settle  in  Oregon.  The  truth  is  that  the  American 
settlers  who  left  the  East  prior  to  1849  went  on 
their  own  initiative.  They  were  neither  invited 
nor  helped  nor  protected  by  the  Government,  un- 


2  54  J^^'  John  McLoughlin 

til  after  the  establishment  of  the  Territorial  Gov- 
ernment in  1849.  Under  the  Conventions  of  joint- 
occupancy  Dr.  McLoughlin  had  the  same  rights, 
up  to  the  Treaty  of  1846,  as  a  British  subject,  that 
any  citizen  of  the  United  States  had-  no  more,  no 
less.     This,  Thurston  as  a  lawyer,  knew. 

After  quoting  further  from  the  Shortess  peti- 
tion, Thurston  said:  "Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  all  this 
was  before  the  Provisional  Government  was  in 
operation  -  before  the  treaty,  when  no  man  had 
any  right  to  meddle  with  the  soil.  Who  can  con- 
template the  helpless  condition  of  these  few  and 
feeble  American  citizens,  at  that  time  and  place, 
struggling  for  life,  and  for  subsistence,  thus  kicked 
and  buffeted  round  at  the  mercy  of  one  of  the  most 
powerful  corporations  on  earth,  headed  by  a  man 
whose  intrigues  must  have  furnished  Eugene  Sue 
with  a  clue  to  his  'Wandering  Jew,' -who,  I  say, 
sir,  can  thus  contemplate  our  flesh,  and  blood,  and 
kindred,  with  their  land,  their  houses,  their  all, 
thus  posted  up,  and  declared  subject  to  any  dispo- 
sition this  unfeeling  man  might  make  of  them  with- 
out shedding  tears  of  pity  for  their  distress.  .  .  . 
Now,  sir,  just  turn  to  my  correspondence  in  let- 
ters one  and  two,  where  he  tells  you,  if  a  man  set- 
tled where  the  company  did  not  allow  him  to,  he 
paid  the  forfeiture  with  is  life,  or  from  necessity 
was  compelled  to  yield.  And  here,  again,  the 
names  of  Wait  and  Thornton  rise  up  before  me, 
and  while  reading  their  laudations  of  McLough- 
lin, I  can  think  of  nothing  but  two  Jews  lauding 
Judas  Iscariot.     .     .     . 

"This  petition  is  signed  by  many  persons,  many 
of  whom  I  know,  who  are  now  living  in  Oregon. 


Illustrative  Documents  '^SS 

I  can  bear  unqualified  testimony  to  their  character 
in  society,  to  their  honor  and  to  their  veracity.  I 
undertake  to  say,  that  not  a  word  is  uttered  in  it  but 
the  truth,  and  it  is  susceptible  of  any  reasonable 
proof.  I  know  the  gentleman  who  wrote  the  orig- 
inal, whom  to  know  is  to  respect,  to  listen  to,  to  be- 
lieve. He  is  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  standing 
in  Oregon,  of  some  twelve  or  fourteen  years'  resi- 
dence, and  who  would  be  universally  believed  on 
any  subject  on  which  he  would  presume  to  speak. 
That  gentleman  informs  me  that  every  word  of  it 
is  true  to  the  letter.  .  .  .  If  in  the  mouth  of 
two  or  three  witnesses  all  things  are  established, 
then  surely  sixty-five  men  are  good  evidence  of  the 
facts  stated  in  the  petition  to  which  their  names 
were  attached,  and,  then,  you  and  the  country  can 
judge  whether  this  man  McLoughlin,  by  whom 
all  the  abuses  here  complained  of  were  dictated,  is 
entitled  to  receive  gratuities  of  the  American  Gov- 
ernment for  such  rascalities,  or  whether  the  people 
of  Oregon  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  they 
refuse  to  pay." 

Thurston  set  forth  the  letter  of  Dr.  McLoughlin 
to  Robert  Shortess,  dated  at  Vancouver,  April  13, 
1843,  in  which  Dr.  McLoughlin  wrote:  "I  am  in- 
formed that  you  have  circulated  a  petition  for  sig- 
natures, complaining  of  me,  and  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company.  I  hope  you  will,  in  common  fair- 
ness, give  me  a  copy  of  the  petition,  with  the  names 
of  those  who  signed  it,  that  I  may  know  what  is 
said  against  us,  and  who  those  are  who  think  they 
have  cause  of  complaint  against  us."  Thurston 
said:  "The  names  must  be  given,  and  for  what? 
I  will  not  say  whether  as  a  sure  guide  to  the  toma- 


256  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

hawk  of  the  Indian,  or  as  a  precursor  to  death  by 
combined  and  grinding  oppression  - 1  leave  this 
to  the  witnesses  who  have  already  spoken.  But 
could  you  read  in  the  records  of  heaven  the  deeds 
of  this  power  in  Oregon,  while  you  would  admire 
the  consummate  skill  with  which  they  were  con- 
ducted, your  whole  moral  nature  would  be  shocked 
by  the  baseness  of  the  design,  and  the  means  for 
their  accomplishment." 

Thurston  in  this  speech,  without  giving  names, 
gave  excerpts  from  a  number  of  letters  he  had  re- 
ceived, sustaining  his  actions  against  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin  in  the  Donation  Land  Bill.  Shameful 
as  Thurston's  actions  were  against  Dr.  McLough- 
lin,  Thurston  had  reason  to  believe  that  his  actions 
were  sustained  and  approved  by  leaders  and  mem- 
bers of  the  party  which  had  elected  him.  Those 
who  thus  abetted  Thurston  in  his  misstatements 
and  actions  against  Dr.  McLoughlin  were  as  culp- 
able as  Thurston  was  -  they  became  his  accessories. 
Some  of  these  afterwards  were  ashamed  of  their 
actions  against  Dr.  McLoughlin.  Their  repent- 
ances, although  late,  are  commendable. 


DOCUMENT    O 

Correspondence  of  S.  R,  Thurston,  Nathaniel  J. 
Wyeth,  Robert  C.  Winthrop  and  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin,  published  in  the  ^'Oregon  Spec- 
tator!' April  3,  l8SI. 

"Chicopee,  Mass.,  Nov.  16,  1850." 
"Capt.  Nath.  J.  Wyeth: 

"My  Dear  Sir  -  You  will  excuse  me,  I  am  sure, 


Illustrative  Documents  257 


when  I  assure  you  I  am  from  Oregon,  and  her  del- 
egate to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  for  ad- 
dressing you  for  a  purpose  of  interest  to  the  coun- 
try to  which  I  belong. 

"I  desire  you  to  give  me  as  correct  a  description 
as  you  can  at  this  late  period,  of  the  manner  in 
which  you  and  your  party,  and  your  enterprise  in 
Oregon,  were  treated  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, and  particularly  by  Doc.  John  McLoughlin, 
then  its  Chief  Factor.  This  Dr.  McLoughlin  has, 
since  you  left  the  country,  rendered  his  name  odi- 
ous among  the  people  of  Oregon,  by  his  endeavors 
to  prevent  the  settlement  of  the  country,  and  to 
cripple  its  growth. 

"Now  that  he  wants  a  few  favors  of  our  Govern- 
ment, he  pretends  that  he  has  been  the  long  tried 
friend  of  Americans  and  American  enterprise  west 
of  the  mountains.  Your  early  reply  will  be  highly 
appreciated,  both  for  its  information,  and  your  re- 
lation to  my  country. 

"I  am,  sir,  yours  very  trul}^, 

"S.  R.  Thurston." 

"Cambridge,  Nov.  21,  1850." 
"Hon.  Sam'l  R.  Thurston: 

"Dear  Sir- Your  favor  of  the  i6th  inst.,  was  re- 
ceived on  the  19th.  The  first  time  I  visited  the 
Columbia,  in  the  autumn  of  1832,  I  reached  Van- 
couver with  a  disorganized  party  of  ten  persons, 
the  remnant  of  twenty-four  who  left  the  States. 
Wholly  worn  out  and  disheartened,  we  were  re- 
ceived cordially,  and  liberally  supplied,  and  there 
the  party  broke  up.  I  returned  to  the  States  in  the 
Spring  of  1833  with  one  man.  One  of  the  party, 
Mr.  John  Ball,  remained  and  planted  wheat  on 


Q.^^  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

the  Willamette,  a  little  above  Camp  du  Sable,  hav- 
ing been  supplied  with  seed  and  implements  from 
Vancouver,  then  under  the  charge  of  John 
McLoughlin,  Esq.,  and  this  gentleman  I  believe 
to  have  been  the  first  American  who  planted  wheat 
in  Oregon.  I  returned  to  the  country  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1834,  with  a  large  party  and  more  means, 
having  on  the  way  built  Fort  Hall,  and  there  met 
a  brig  which  I  sent  around  the  Horn.  In  the  win- 
ter and  spring  of  1835,  I  planted  wheat  on  the  Wil- 
lamette and  on  Wappatoo  Island. 

"The  suffering  and  distressed  of  the  early  Amer- 
ican visitors  and  settlers  on  the  Columbia  were  al- 
ways treated  by  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  agents, 
and  particularly  so  by  John  McLoughlin,  Esq., 
with  consideration  and  kindness,  more  particularly 
the  Methodist  Missionaries,  whom  I  brought  out 
in  the  autumn  of  1834.  He  supplied  them  with 
the  means  of  transportation,  seeds,  implements  of 
agriculture  and  building,  cattle  and  food  for  a 
long  time. 

"I  sincerely  regret  that  the  gentleman,  as  you 
state,  has  become  odious  to  his  neighbors  in  his  old 
age. 

"I  am  your  ob't  serv't, 

"Nath.  J.  Wyeth." 

"Cambridge,  Nov.  28,  1850." 
"Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop : 

"Dear  Sir -I  have  received  a  letter  from  Sam'l 
R.  Thurston,  of  which  the  following  is  a  portion: 

"  'I  desire  you  to  give  me  as  correct  a  descrip- 
tion as  you  can  at  this  late  period,  of  the  manner  in 
which  you  and  your  party,  and  your  enterprise  in 


Illustrative  Documents  259 


Oregon,  were  treated  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany west  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  particu- 
larly by  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  then  its  Chief 
Factor.  This  Dr.  McLoughlin  has  since  you  left 
the  country,  rendered  his  name  odious  among  the 
people  of  Oregon,  by  his  endeavors  to  prevent  the 
settlement  of  the  country  and  cripple  its  growth. 
Now  that  he  wants  a  few  favors  of  our  Govern- 
ment, he  pretends  that  he  has  been  the  long-tried 
friend  of  Americans  and  American  enterprise 
west  of  the  mountains.' 

"I  have  written  Mr.  Thurston,  in  reply  to  the 
above  extract,  that  myself  and  parties  were  kindly 
received,  and  were  treated  well  in  all  respects  by 
J.  McLoughlin,  Esq.,  and  the  officers  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Co.;  but  from  the  tenor  of  his  letter,  I 
have  no  confidence  that  my  testimony  will  be  pre- 
sented before  any  committee  to  whom  may  be  re- 
ferred any  subjects  touching  the  interests  of  said 
John  McLoughlin,  Esq. 

"The  very  honorable  treatment  received  by  me 
from  Mr.  McLoughlin  during  the  years  inclusive 
from  1832  to  1836,  during  which  time  there  were 
no  other  Americans  on  the  Lower  Columbia,  ex- 
cept myself  and  parties,  calls  on  me  to  state  the 
facts. 

"The  purpose  of  this  letter  is  to  ask  the  favor  of 
you  to  inform  me  what  matter  is  pending,  in  which 
Mr.  McLoughlin's  interests  are  involved,  and  be- 
fore whom,  and  if  you  will  present  a  memorial 
from  me  on  the  matters  stated  in  Mr.  Thurston's 
letter  as  above. 

"Respectfully  and  truly  your  ob't  servant, 

"Nath.  J.  Wyeth." 


a6o  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

"Washington,  Dec.  28,  1850." 
"Dear  Sir  - 1  took  the  earliest  opportunity  to 
enquire  of  Mr.  Thurston  what  there  was  pending 
before  Congress  or  the  Executive,  in  which  Mr. 
McLoughlin's  character  or  interest  were  con- 
cerned. He  would  tell  me  nothing,  nor  am  I 
aware  of  anything. 

"Respectfully  your  ob't  serv't, 

"R.  C.  WiNTHROP." 
"To.  N.  J.  Wyeth,  Esq." 

"John  McLoughlin,  Esq. : 

"Dear  Sir -On  the  19th  of  December,  1850,  I 
received  a  letter  from  Sam'l  R.  Thurston,  delegate 
from  Oregon,  of  which  see  copy  No.  i,  and  by 
same  mail  an  Oregon  newspaper  containing  a  com- 
munication over  your  signature,  the  letter  [latter], 
I  think,  addressed  in  your  handwriting. 

"From  the  tenor  of  Mr.  Thurston's  letter,  I  pre- 
sumed he  wanted  my  testimony  for  some  purpose 
not  friendly  to  yourself.  I  answered  his  letter  as 
per  copy  No.  2,  but  doubting  if  my  testimony,  ex- 
cept it  suited  his  views,  would  be  presented,  and 
being  ignorant  of  his  intentions,  I  wrote  the  Hon. 
R.  C.  Winthrop,  late  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, and  at  present  a  member  of  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  as  per  copy,  [No.  3]  and  re- 
ceived from  him  a  reply  as  per  copy  [No.  4]. 

"Should  you  wish  such  services  as  I  can  render 
in  this  part  of  the  United  States,  I  shall  be  pleased 
to  give  them  in  return  for  the  many  good  things 
you  did  years  since,  and  if  my  testimony  as  regards 
your  efficient  and  friendly  actions  towards  me  and 
the  other  earliest  Americans  who  settled  in  Oregon, 


Illustrative  Documents  261 

will  be  of  use  in  placing  you  before  the  Oregon 
people  in  the  dignified  position  of  a  benefactor,  it 
will  be  cheerfully  rendered. 

"I  am,  with  much  respect,  yours  truly, 

"Nath.  J.  Wyeth." 

"Mr.  Thurston  writes  to  Mr.  Wyeth,  That  Dr. 
McLoughlin  has,  since  you  left  the  country,  ren- 
dered his  name  odious  to  the  people  of  Oregon.' 
(That  I  have  rendered  my  name  odious  to  the 
people  of  Oregon,  is  what  I  do  not  know.)  And 
'By  his  endeavors  to  prevent  the  settlement  of  the 
country,  and  to  cripple  its  growth.'  I  say  I  never 
endeavored  to  prevent  the  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try, or  to  cripple  its  growth,  but  the  reverse.  li 
the  whole  country  had  been  my  own  private  prop- 
erty, I  could  not  have  exerted  myself  more  stren- 
uously than  I  did  to  introduce  civilization,  and 
promote  its  settlement.  'Now  that  he  wants  a  few 
favors  of  our  Government,  he  pretends  that  he  has 
been  the  long  tried  friend  of  Americans  and 
American  enterprise  west  of  the  mountains.'  Mr. 
Wyeth  states  how  I  acted  towards  him  and  his 
companions,  the  first  Americans  that  I  saw  on  this 
side  of  the  mountains.  Those  that  came  since, 
know  if  Mr.  Thurston  represents  my  conduct  cor- 
rectly or  not.  As  to  my  wanting  a  few  favors,  I 
am  not  aware  that  I  asked  for  any  favors.  I  was 
invited  by  the  promises  held  out  in  Linn's  bill,  to 
become  an  American  citizen  of  this  territory.  I 
accepted  the  invitation  and  fulfilled  the  obligations 
in  good  faith,  and  after  doing  more,  as  I  believe 
will  be  admitted,  to  settle  the  country  and  relieve 
the  immigrants  in  their  distresses,  than  any  other 


262  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

man  in  it,  part  of  my  claim,  which  had  been 
jumped,  Mr.  Thurston,  the  delegate  from  this  ter- 
ritory, persuades  Congress  to  donate  Judge  Bry- 
ant, and  the  remainder  is  reserved.  I  make  no 
comment-  the  act  speaks  for  itself,  but  merely  ob- 
serve, if  I  had  no  claim  to  Abernethy  Island,  why 
did  Mr.  Thurston  get  Congress  to  interfere,  and 
what  had  Judge  Bryant  done  for  the  territory  to 
entitle  him  to  the  favor  of  our  delegate?  Mr. 
Thurston  is  exerting  the  influence  of  his  official 
situation  to  get  Congress  to  depart  from  its  usual 
course,  and  to  interfere  on  a  point  in  dispute,  and 
donate  that  island  to  Abernethy,  his  heirs  and  as- 
signs, alias  Judge  Bryant,  his  heirs  and  assigns. 
"Yours  respectfully, 

"JNO.  McLoughlin." 
With  this  correspondence  was  published  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  Doctor  McLoughlin  to  the  Ed- 
itor of  the  Oregon  Spectator:  "I  handed  the  fol- 
lowing letters  to  the  Editor  of  the  Statesman^  and 
he  refused  to  publish  them,  unless  as  an  advertise- 
ment." This  last  letter  is  quoted  to  show  that  the 
letters  set  forth  in  this  Document  O  are  authentic. 
The  first  number  of  the  Oregon  Statesman  was 
published  March  28,  1851.^^ 


DOCUMENT    P 

Letter   from  Rev.  Vincent  Snelling   to  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin  of  March  Q,  18^2. 
The  original  of  the  following  letter  is  now  in  the 

"  This  correspondence  was  also  published   in   full   in   the    Western 
Star  (published  at  Milwaukee,  Oregon),  in  its  issue  of  April  lo,  1851. 


Illustrative  Documents  162 


possession  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society,  from 
which  this  copy  is  made.  Rev.  Vincent  Snelling 
was  the  first  Baptist  minister  who  came  to  Oregon. 

"Oregon  City,  9th  March,  1852." 
"Mr.  John  McLoughlin,  Esq., 

"Dear  Sir: 
"Having  learned  that  you  intend  shortly  to  visit 
Washington  City,  and  knowing  that  you  have 
been  misrepresented  by  our  Delegate  from  this 
country, -and  wishing  as  an  honest  man,  and  a 
friend  to  truth  and  justice,  to  contribute  some- 
thing toward  the  correction  of  those  misrepre- 
sentations, I  submit  to  your  acceptance  and  dis- 
posal the  following : 

"I  arrived  in  Oregon  in  the  fall  of  1844  and  have 
been  an  observer  of  your  treatment  of  and  conduct 
to  the  American  immigrants.     I  know  that  you 
have  saved  our  people  from  suffering  by  hunger 
and  I  believe  from  savage  cruelty  also.     I  know 
you  sent  your  boats  to  convey  them  down  the  Col- 
umbia river,  free  of  charge,  and  that  you  also  sent 
them  provisions  when  they  were  in  a  state  of  star- 
vation, and  that  you  directed  them  to  be  distrib- 
uted among  the  immigrants,  to  those  that  were  des- 
titute of  money  equally  with  those  that  had.     Nor 
did  your  kindness  stop  there,  as  many  of  us  lost 
nearly  all  we  possessed  by  the  time  we  arrived  in 
the  valley.     You  continued  your  favors  by  letting 
us  have  both  food  and  raiment  for  the  year,  seed 
wheat,  and  charging  no  more  than  the  same  num- 
ber of  bushels  the  next  harvest,  plows  and  cattle  to 
plow  with.    To  conclude  I  do  affirm  that  your  con- 
duct ever  since  I  have  known  you  has  been  such  as 


264  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


to  justify  the  opinion  that  you  were  friendly  to  the 
settlement  of  the  country  by  Americans.  I  judge 
the  tree  [by]  its  fruit;  you  have  done  more  for  the 
American  settlers  than  all  the  men  that  were  in  it, 
at  that  time. 

"With  sincere  wishes  that  you  may  obtain  your 
rights, 

"I  subscribe  myself  yours, 

"Vincent  Snelling, 
"Ord.  Minister  Gospel,  Baptist." 


DOCUMENT    Q 

Excerpts  from  "The  Hudson  s  Bay  Company  and 
Vancouver  s  Island^'  by  James  Edward  Fitzger- 
ald, published  in  London  in  1849^  ^^d.  excerpt 
from  "Ten  Years  in  Oregon^'  by  Rev.  Daniel 
Lee  and  Rev.  J.  H.  Frost,  published  in  New 
York  in  1844- 

In  order  to  show  some  of  the  unjustifiable  abuse 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin  from  British  sources,  I  here 
insert  an  excerpt  from  pp.  13-18,  inclusive,  of 
"The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  Vancouver's 
Island"  by  J.  E.  Fitzgerald.  He  says:  "Dr. 
M'Loughlin  was  formerly  an  Agent  in  the  North 
West  Fur  Company  of  Montreal ;  he  was  one  of  the 
most  enterprising  and  active  in  conducting  the  war 
between  that  Association  and  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  In  the  year  1821,  when  the  rival  com- 
panies united.  Dr.  M'Loughlin  became  a  factor  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  But  his  allegiance 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  disposed  of  along 


Illustrative  Documents  265 

with  his  interests;  and  his  sympathy  with  anything 
other  than  British,  seems  to  have  done  justice  to 
his  birth  and  education,  which  were  those  of  a 
French  Canadian. 

"This  gentleman  was  appointed  Governor  of  all 
the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains;  and  is 
accused,  by  those  who  have  been  in  that  country,  of 
having  uniformly  encouraged  the  emigration  of 
settlers  from  the  United  States,  and  of  having  dis- 
couraged that  of  British  subjects. 

"While  the  Company  in  this  country  were  assert- 
ing that  their  settlements  on  the  Columbia  River 
were  giving  validity  to  the  claim  of  Great  Britain 
to  the  Oregon  territory,  it  appears,  that  their  chief 
officer  on  the  spot  was  doing  all  in  his  power  to 
facilitate  the  operations  of  those,  whose  whole 
object  it  was  to  annihilate  that  claim  altogether. 

"There  is  one  story  told,  about  which  it  is  right 
that  the  truth  should  be  ascertained.  It  is  said  that 
a  number  of  half-breeds  from  the  Red  River  set- 
tlement were,  in  the  year  1841,  induced  by  the 
Company's  officers  to  undertake  a  journey  entirely 
across  the  continent,  with  the  object  of  becoming 
settlers  on  the  Columbia  River. 

"It  appears  that  a  number  went,  but  on  arriving 
in  the  country,  so  far  from  finding  any  of  the 
promised  encouragement,  the  treatment  they  re- 
ceived from  Dr.  M'Loughlin  was  such,  that,  after 
having  been  nearly  starved  under  the  paternal  care 
of  that  gentleman,  they  all  went  over  to  the  Ameri- 
can settlement  on  the  Wallamette  valley. 

"These  emigrants  became  citizens  of  the  United 
States,   and  it  is  further  said,  were  the  first  to 


266  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

memorialize  Congress  to  extend  the  power  of  the 
United  States  over  the  Oregon  territory. 

"For  the  truth  of  these  statements  we  do  not  of 
course  vouch.    But  we  do  say  they  demand  inquiry. 

"Dr.  M'Loughlin's  policy  was  so  manifestly 
American,  that  it  is  openly  canvassed  in  a  book 
written  by  Mr.  Dunn,  one  of  the  servants  of  the 
Company,  and  written  for  the  purpose  of  praising 
their  system  and  policy. 

"Sir  Edward  Belcher  also  alludes  to  this  policy. 
He  says,  -  'Some  few  years  since,  the  Company 
determined  on  forming  settlements  on  the  rich 
lands  situated  on  the  Wallamatte  and  other  rivers, 
and  for  providing  for  their  retired  servants  by  al- 
lotting them  farms,  and  further  aiding  them  by 
supplies  of  cattle  &c.  That  on  the  Wallamatte  was 
a  field  too  inviting  for  missionary  enthusiasm  to 
overlook;  but  instead  of  selecting  a  British  subject 
to  afiford  them  spiritual  assistance,  recourse  was 
had  to  Americans  -  a  course  pregnant  with  evil 
consequences,  and  particularly  in  the  political 
squabble  pending,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  result. 
No  sooner  had  the  American  and  his  allies  fairly 
squatted,  -  (which  they  deem  taking  possession  of 
the  country)  than  they  invited  their  brethren  to 
join  them,  and  called  on  the  American  Govern- 
ment for  laws  and  protection.' 

"A  great  deal  of  importance  is  attached  to  the 
account  given  by  Commodore  Wilkes,  U.  S.  N.,  of 
the  operations  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  on 
the  north-west  coast;  and  it  is  inferred  that  testi- 
mony, coming  from  such  a  quarter,  is  doubly  in 
favour  of  the  Company. 


Illustrative  Documents  267 

"Nothing,  indeed,  can  be  higher  than  the  terms 
in  which  Captain  Wilkes  speaks  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  chief  factor.  Dr.  M'Loughlin,  and 
of  the  welcome  he  met,  and  the  hospitality  he  ex- 
perienced during  his  stay  upon  the  coast. 

"Captain  Wilkes  was  far  too  sensible  and  dis- 
criminating a  man,  not  to  see,  plainly  enough, 
whose  game  Dr.  M'Loughlin  was  playing.  But 
there  is  something  strange,  if  we  turn  from  the 
perusal  of  Captain  Wilkes'  narrative,  and  the  de- 
scription of  the  facilities  which  were  ever  afforded 
him,  to  the  following  passage  from  Sir  Edward 
Belcher's  voyage : 

"The  difference  of  the  reception  which  a 
frigate  of  the  United  States  Navy  met  with, 
from  that  which  one  of  Her  Majesty's  ships  ex- 
perienced, is  a  most  suspicious  fact,  as  sug- 
gesting the  animus  of  the  Company's  agents  upon 
the  north-west  coast.  Sir  Edward  Belcher  says: 
'The  attention  of  the  Chief  to  myself,  and  those 
immediately  about  me,  particularly  in  sending 
down  fresh  supplies,  previous  to  my  arrival, 
I  feel  fully  grateful  for;  but  I  cannot  conceal  my 
disappointment  at  the  want  of  accommodation  ex- 
hibited towards  the  crews  of  the  vessels  under  my 
command,  in  a  British  possession.' 

"We  certainly  were  not  distressed,  nor  was  it 
imperatively  necessary  that  fresh  beef  and  vege- 
tables should  be  supplied,  or  I  should  have  made  a 
formal  demand.  But  as  regarded  those  who  might 
come  after,  and  not  improbably  myself  among 
the  number,  I  inquired  in  direct  terms  what  facili- 
ties Her  Majesty's  ships  of  war  might  expect,  in 


268  Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 

the  event  of  touching  at  this  port  for  bullocks, 
flour,  vegetables,  &c.  I  certainly  v^as  extremely 
surprised  at  the  reply,  that  'they  were  not  in  a  con- 
dition to  supply.'  .  .  .  The  American  policy 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  would  seem  from 
the  above  facts,  to  be  more  than  a  matter  of 
suspicion. 

"It  is  very  easy  to  say,  these  are  idle  tales;  they 
are  tales  -  but  such  tales,  that  Parliament  ought  to 
make  a  searching  investigation  into  their  truth. 
.  .  .  It  is  certain  that  Dr.  McLoughlin  has  now 
left  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  has  become 
nominally^  what  he  seems  to  have  been  for  years, 
really  -  an  American  citizen^  living  in  the  midst  of 
an  American  population,  which  he  collected 
around  him,  upon  soil,  to  which  he  knew  that  his 
own  country  had,  all  along,  laid  claim." 

Sir  Edward  Belcher's  exploring  expedition  was 
at  Fort  Vancouver  in  August,  1839.  He  insisted 
that  the  crews  of  his  vessels  should  be  supplied 
with  fresh  beef.  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  not  then  at 
Fort  Vancouver.  Probably  he  had  not  returned 
from  his  trip  to  England  in  1838-9.  Mr.  Douglas, 
who  was  in  charge,  refused  Belcher's  request  be- 
cause the  supply  of  cattle  was  not  sufficient  for  that 
purpose.  Fresh  beef  was  supplied  to  Sir  Edward 
Belcher  and  his  officers. 

Commodore  Wilkes  and  his  exploring  expedi- 
tion were  on  the  Oregon  Coast  in  1841.  He  did 
not  ask  for  his  crews  to  be  supplied  with  provi- 
sions. He  was  grateful  for  the  kind  treatment  of 
himself,  his  officers  and  men,  by  Dr.  McLoughlin 
and  other  officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 


Illustrative  Documents  269 

Sir  Edward  Belcher,  it  seems,  was  not  grateful/*^ 
In  relation  to  the  Red  River  immigrants,  who 
arrived  in  1841,  the  statement  of  Fitzgerald  is 
mostly  untrue.  These  settlers  came  to  Oregon  in 
1 841  under  the  auspices  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany and  settled  on  Nisqually  Plains,  near  Puget 
Sound.  These  plains  are  almost  sterile,  being  an 
enormous  bed  of  very  fine  gravel  mixed  with  some 
soil  at  the  surface.  It  is  easy  to  understand  how 
these  settlers  were  disappointed  in  living  by  them- 
selves on  the  Nisqually  Plains,  when  they  could 
come  to  the  Willamette  Valley  with  its  fertile  soil 
and  be  near  the  settlers  in  the  Willamette  Valley. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  when  these  Red 
River  settlers  went  to  the  Willamette  Valley,  they 
were  practically  as  much  dependent  on  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  and  Dr.  McLoughlin,  as 
though  they  had  stayed  on  the  Nisqually  Plains. 

Rev.  Daniel  Lee  and  Rev.  J.  H.  Frost  wrote  a 
book  entitled  "Ten  Years  in  Oregon,"  which  was 
printed  in  New  York  in  1844..  On  page  216  of  that 
work  they  say  of  these  settlers  from  Red  River: 
"They  went  to  Nesqually,  on  Pugit's  Sound;  but, 
after  spending  a  year,  it  was  found  that  the  land 
was  of  a  very  inferior  quality,  and  that  they  could 
not  subsist  upon  it.  Thus,  after  having  subjected 
themselves  to  many  hardships,  and  privations,  and 
losses,  for  almost  two  years,  they  had  yet  to  remove 
to  the  Walamet  Valley,  as  promising  to  remun- 
erate them  for  their  future  toil,  and  make  them 
forget  the  past.  Accordingly  most  of  them  re- 
moved and  settled  in  the  Walamet  in  1841-2." 

'"  See  Document  F. 


270  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


DOCUMENT    R 

Note  on  authorship  of  ''History  of  Oregon'  in 

Bancroft's  Works;  and  sources  of  information 

for  this  monograph. 

Hubert  Howe  Bancroft  obtained  a  fine  collec- 
tion of  books  and  pamphlets  relating  to  early  Ore- 
gon and  a  great  deal  of  other  information  before 
the  "History  of  Oregon,"  in  his  Works,  was  writ- 
ten. A  great  many  Oregon  pioneers  were  person- 
ally interviewed  and  their  statements  reduced  to 
writing.  He  also  borrowed,  on  a  promise  to  re- 
turn, a  great  many  private  papers  and  other  docu- 
ments, including  letters  and  copies  of  letters  from 
the  heirs  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  and  from  other  Ore- 
gon pioneers  and  heirs  of  pioneers,  which  he  has 
not  yet  returned,  although  he  borrowed  these 
papers  and  documents  more  than  twenty  years  ago. 
Said  "History  of  Oregon"  is  largely  supplemented 
by  foot-notes  taken  from  this  information  obtained, 
or  caused  to  be  obtained  by  Bancroft.  The  defense 
of  Dr.  McLoughlin  to  the  report  of  Capt.  Warre 
and  Lieut.  Vavasour,  was  afterwards  returned  to 
Dr.  McLoughlin  by  James  Douglas,  to  whom  it 
was  sent  by  Sir  George  Simpson.  It  was  among 
the  papers  loaned  to  Bancroft. 

While  Bancroft  was  a  handy  man  in  collecting 
materials,  he  wisely  employed  Frances  Fuller 
Victor,  Oregon's  best  and  greatest  historian,  to 
write  the  "History  of  Oregon"  for  his  Works.  It 
was  largely,  if  not  wholly,  written  by  her.    This 


Illustrative  Documents  271 

applies  particularly  to  that  part  of  the  history  up 
to  and  including  the  year  1850.  For  years  she  had 
been  a  careful  student  of  Oregon  history.  She 
had  access  to  all  the  data  collected  by  Bancroft. 

In  1 871  Mrs.  Victor  published  "The  River  of 
the  West"  which  sets  forth  many  of  the  facts  about 
Dr.  McLoughlin,  his  land  claim,  and  the  actions 
of  the  missionaries  and  the  conspirators  against 
him,  which  are  contained  in  this  address  and  in  the 
"History  of  Oregon"  in  Bancroft's  Works.  Vol- 
ume one  of  the  latter  history  was  published  in  1886, 
and  volume  two  was  published  in  1888. 

In  writing  this  monograph  on  Dr.  McLoughlin 
I  have  found  The  River  of  the  West  and  Bancroft's 
History  of  Oregon  of  some  use,  especially  where 
the  information  was  taken  from  the  documents  so 
borrowed  by  Bancroft.  But  I  have  obtained  most 
of  my  facts  from  original  sources.  Wherever  it 
was  possible  I  have  consulted  Oregon  newspapers 
and  books  and  pamphlets  written  by  persons  who 
took  part  in  the  events  described,  or  which  were 
written  contemporaneous  therewith,  and  letters 
written  by  pioneers. 

The  Oregon  Historical  Society  has  a  number  of 
original  letters,  files  of  early  Oregon  newspapers, 
and  other  documents  relating  to  events  in  early 
Oregon.  Many  of  these  I  have  examined  and 
taken  copies  of.  In  this  I  have  been  greatly  aided 
by  Mr.  George  H.  Himes,  for  years  the  efficient 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Soci- 
ety, and  Secretary  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Associa- 
tion. I  have  also  obtained  copies  from  two  issues 
of  the  Oregon  Spectator  in  the  possession  of  the 


272  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

University  of  Oregon,   through   the   courtesy  of 
Prof.  Frederic  G.  Young. 


DOCUMENT    S 

Excerpts  from  opinions  of  contemporaries  of  Dr. 

McLoughlin. 

In  addition  to  opinions  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  set 
forth  in  the  address,  I  here  set  forth  excerpts 
from  other  opinions,  given  by  some  of  his  contem- 
poraries. I  have  selected  these  out  of  many  high 
opinions  and  eulogies  upon  Dr.  McLoughlin. 

Judge  Matthew  P.  Deady,  in  an  address  before 
the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association,  in  1876,  said:  ^^ 
"Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  Chief  Factor  of  the 
Company  [Hudson's  Bay  Company]  west  of  the 
Rocky  mountains,  from  1824  to  1845,  when  he  re- 
signed the  position  and  settled  at  Oregon  City, 
where  he  died  in  1857,  full  of  years  and  honor. 
.  Although,  as  an  officer  of  the  Company, 
his  duty  and  interest  required  that  he  should  pre- 
fer it  to  the  American  immigrant  or  missionary, 
yet  at  the  call  of  humanity,  he  always  forgot  all 
special  interests,  and  was  ever  ready  to  help  and 
succor  the  needy  and  unfortunate  of  whatever 
creed  or  clime. 

"Had  he  but  turned  his  back  upon  the  early 
missionary  or  settler  and  left  them  to  shift  for 
themselves,  the  occupation  of  the  country  by 
Americans  would  have  been  seriously  retarded, 
and  attended  with  much  greater  hardship  and  suf- 

"^  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1876,  p.  18. 


Illustrative  Documents  273 

fering  than  it  was.  For  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury McLoughlin  was  a  grand  and  potent  figure 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Pacific  slope.  .  .  .  But  he 
has  long  since  gone  to  his  rest.  Peace  to  his  ashes ! 
Yet  the  good  deeds  done  in  the  body  are  a  lasting 
monument  to  his  memory,  and  shall  in  due  time 
cause  his  name  to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold  in 
Oregon  history." 

Governor  Peter  H.  Burnett,  from  whose  "Rec- 
ollections and  Opinions  of  An  Old  Pioneer,"  I 
have  already  quoted,  also  said  in  that  book  (pp. 
143,  144)  :  "Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  one  of 
the  greatest  and  most  noble  philanthropists  I  ever 
knew.  He  was  a  man  of  superior  ability,  just  in 
all  his  dealings,  and  a  faithful  Christian.  I  never 
knew  a  man  of  the  world  who  was  more  admir- 
able. I  never  heard  him  utter  a  vicious  sentiment, 
or  applaud  a  wrongful  act.  His  views  and  acts 
were  formed  upon  the  model  of  the  Christian 
gentleman.  He  was  a  superior  business  man,  and 
a  profound  judge  of  human  nature.  ...  In 
his  position  of  Chief  Factor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  he  had  grievous  responsibilities  im- 
posed upon  him.  He  stood  between  the  absent 
directors  and  stockholders  of  the  Company  and 
the  present  suffering  immigrants.  He  witnessed 
their  sufferings;  they  did  not.  He  was  unjustly 
blamed  by  many  of  both  parties.  It  was  not  the 
business  of  the  Company  to  deal  upon  credit;  and 
the  manager  of  its  affairs  in  Oregon  was  suddenly 
thrown  into  a  new  and  very  embarrassing  position. 
How  to  act,  so  as  to  secure  the  approbation  of  the 
directors  and  stockholders  in  England,  and  at  the 


274  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

same  time  not  to  disregard  the  most  urgent  calls 
of  humanity,  was  indeed  the  great  difficulty.  No 
possible  line  of  conduct  could  have  escaped 
censure. 

"To  be  placed  in  such  a  position  was  a  misfor- 
tune which  only  a  good  man  could  bear  in  pa- 
tience. I  was  assured  by  Mr.  Frank  Ermatinger, 
the  manager  of  the  Company's  store  at  Oregon 
City,  as  well  as  by  others,  that  Dr.  McLoughlin 
had  sustained  a  heavy  individual  loss  by  his  char- 
ity to  the  immigrants.  I  knew  enough  myself  to 
be  certain  that  these  statements  were  substantially 
true.  Yet  such  was  the  humility  of  the  Doctor 
that  he  never,  to  my  knowledge,  mentioned  or  al- 
luded to  any  particular  act  of  charity  performed 
by  him.  I  was  intimate  with  him,  and  he  never 
mentioned  them  to  me." 

Col.  J.  W.  Nesmith,^^  from  whose  address  in 
1876  I  have  already  quoted,  in  that  address  also 
said:'^^  "Dr.  John  McLoughlin  was  a  public 
benefactor,  and  the  time  will  come  when  the  peo- 
ple of  Oregon  will  do  themselves  credit  by  erect- 
ing a  statue  to  his  memory.  .  .  .  Thus  far 
detraction  and  abuse  have  been  his  principal  re- 
wards." 

Hon.  Willard  H.  Rees,  a  pioneer  of  1844,  in  his 
address  before  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association, 
in  1879,  said:^*    "Dr.  McLoughlin,  as  director  of 

'*  Col.  J.  W.  Nesrnith  was  a  Captain  of  Oregon  volunteers  in  the 
Cayuse  Indian  War  of  1847;  and  also  in  the  Rogue  River  Indian  War 
of  1852,  and  was  Colonel  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Oregon  Mounted 
Volunteers  in  the  Yakima  Indian  War  of  1855.  He  was  a  United 
States  Senator  and  also  a  Representative  to  Congress  from  Oregon. 

""  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1876,  p.  58. 

■**  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1879,  pp.  29, 
30. 


Illustrative  Documents  2.75 

the  affairs  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  west  of 
the  Rocky  mountains,  had  more  power  over  the 
Indians  of  the  whole  Northwest  Coast,  which  he 
judiciously  exercised,  than  all  other  influences 
multiplied  and  combined.  He  was  a  great  and 
just  man,  having  in  no  instance  deceived  them, 
firm  in  maintaining  the  established  rules  regulat- 
ing their  intercourse,  making  their  supplies,  so  far 
as  the  Company  was  concerned,  strictly  depend 
upon  their  own  efforts  and  good  conduct,  always 
prompt  to  redress  the  slightest  infraction  of  good 
faith.  This  sound  undeviating  policy  made  Dr. 
McLoughlin  the  most  humane  and  successful 
manager  of  the  native  tribes  this  country  has  ever 
known,  while  the  Indians  both  feared  and  re- 
spected him  above  all  other  men.  .  .  .  Dr. 
McLoughlin  was  no  ordinary  personage.  Nature 
had  written  in  her  most  legible  hand  preeminence 
in  every  lineament  of  his  strong  Scotch  face,  com- 
bining in  a  marked  degree  all  the  native  dignity 
of  an  intellectual  giant.  He  stood  among  his  pio- 
neer contemporaries  like  towering  old  [Mount] 
Hood  amid  the  evergreen  heights  that  surround  his 
mountain  home  -  a  born  leader  of  men.  He  would 
have  achieved  distinction  in  any  of  the  higher 
pursuits  of  life.  .  .  .  His  benevolent  work 
was  confined  to  no  church,  sect  nor  race  of  men, 
but  was  as  broad  as  suffering  humanity,  never  re- 
fusing to  feed  the  hungry,  clothe  the  naked,  and 
provide  for  the  sick  and  toilworn  immigrants  and 
needy  settlers  who  called  for  assistance  at  his  old 
Vancouver  home.  Many  were  the  pioneer  moth- 
ers and  their  little  ones,  whose  hearts  were  made 


276  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

glad  through  his  timely  assistance,  while  destitute 
strangers,  whom  chance  or  misfortune  had  thrown 
upon  these,  then,  wild  inhospitable  shores,  were 
not  permitted  to  suffer  while  he  had  power  to  re- 
lieve. Yet  he  was  persecuted  by  men  claiming 
the  knowledge  of  a  Christian  experience,  defamed 
by  designing  politicians,  knowingly  misrepre- 
sented in  Washington  as  a  British  intriguer,  until 
he  was  unjustly  deprived  of  the  greater  part  of 
his  land  claim.  Thus,  after  a  sorrowful  experi- 
ence of  man's  ingratitude  to  man,  he  died  an  hon- 
ored American  citizen." 

J.  Quinn  Thornton  was  one  of  the  early  Oregon 
pioneers.  He  came  to  Oregon  with  the  immi- 
gration of  1846.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Oregon 
Pioneer  Association  in  1875,  he  furnished  to  that 
Association  a  history  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment of  Oregon.  In  this  history,  speaking  of  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin,  Thornton  said:'^  "The  late 
Dr.  John  McLoughlin  resided  at  Fort  Vancou- 
ver, and  he  was  Chief  Factor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  He  was 
a  great  man,  upon  whom  God  had  stamped  a 
grandeur  of  character  which  few  men  possess  and 
a  nobility  which  the  patent  of  no  earthly  sovereign 
can  confer.  .  .  .  As  a  Christian,  he  was  a 
devout  Roman  Catholic,  yet,  nevertheless,  catholic 
in  the  largest  sense  of  that  word.  .  .  .  He 
was  a  man  of  great  goodness  of  heart,  too  wise  to 
do  a  really  foolish  thing,  too  noble  and  magnani- 
mous to  condescend  to  meanness,  and  too  forgiv- 
ing to  cherish  resentments.     The  writer,  during 

'"  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for  1875,  p.  51. 


Illustrative  Documents  277 

the  last  years  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  life,  being  his 
professional  adviser,  had  an  opportunity  such  as 
no  other  man  had,  save  his  confessor,  of  learning 
and  studying  him;  and  as  a  result  of  the  impres- 
sions, vv^hich  daily  intercourse  of  either  a  social 
or  business  nature  made  upon  the  vv^riter's  mind, 
he  hesitates  not  to  say,  that  old,  white-headed  John 
McLoughlin,  when  compared  with  other  persons 
who  have  figured  in  the  early  history  of  Oregon, 
is  in  sublimity  of  character,  a  Mount  Hood  tow- 
ering above  the  foot  hills  into  the  regions  of  eter- 
nal snow  and  sunshine." 

Col.  J.  K.  Kelly  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the 
First  Regiment  of  Oregon  Mounted  Volunteers 
in  the  Yakima  Indian  War  of  1855.  He  was  after- 
wards a  United  States  Senator  from  Oregon,  and 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Oregon  State  Supreme  Court. 
In  his  address  to  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association 
in  1882,  speaking  of  Dr.  McLoughlin,  Col.  Kelly 
said:^®  "J^st  and  generous  as  that  law  [Oregon 
Donation  Land  Law]  was  to  the  people  of  Ore- 
gon, yet  there  was  one  blot  upon  it.  I  refer  to  the 
provisions  contained  in  the  nth  section  of  the 
act  by  which  the  donation  claim  of  Dr.  John  Mc- 
Loughlin, known  as  the  Oregon  City  claim,  was 
taken  from  him  and  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly  to  be  sold  and  the  proceeds 
applied  to  the  endowment  of  an  university.  It 
was  an  act  of  injustice  to  one  of  the  best  friends 
and  greatest  benefactors  which  the  early  immi- 
grants ever  had.  I  do  not  propose  to  speak  of  the 
many  estimable  and  noble  qualities  of  Dr.  Mc- 

'"  Transactions  of  the  Oregon  Pioneer  Association  for   1882,  p.  26. 


278  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

Loughlin  here.  They  have  been  dwelt  upon  by 
others  who  have  heretofore  addressed  the  Pioneer 
Association,  and  especially  by  Mr.  Rees  in  1879. 
I  concur  in  everything  he  said  in  praise  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin. 

"It  was  my  good  fortune  to  know  him  well  dur- 
ing the  last  six  years  of  his  life,  years  which  were 
embittered  by  what  he  considered  an  act  of  in- 
gratitude after  he  had  done  so  many  acts  of  per- 
sonal kindness  to  the  early  immigrants  in  their 
time  of  need.  That  Dr.  McLoughlin  was  unjustly 
treated  in  this  matter,  few,  if  any,  will  deny.  And 
I  am  very  sure  that  a  large  majority  of  the  people, 
in  Oregon,  at  that  time,  condemned  the  act  which 
took  away  his  property,  and  tended  to  becloud  his 
fame.  And  yet  no  act  was  ever  done  by  the  Ter- 
ritorial Government  to  assert  its  right  to  the  Ore- 
gon City  claim  during  the  life  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Loughlin; and  in  1862,  five  years  after  his  death, 
the  State  of  Oregon  confirmed  the  title  to  his  de- 
visees upon  the  payment  of  the  merely  nominal 
consideration  of  $1,000  into  the  university  fund. 
And  so  five  years  after  he  was  laid  in  his  grave  an 
act  of  tardy  justice  was  done  at  last  to  the  memory 
of  the  grand  old  pioneer."  It  was  largely  through 
Col.  Kelly's  influence  and  actions  that  this  act  was 
passed  in  favor  of  Dr.  McLoughlin's  devisees. 

Horace  S.  Lyman  was  a  son  of  Rev.  Horace 
Lyman,  a  Congregational  minister  who  came  to 
Oregon  in  1849,  and  who  founded  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  of  Portland  in  June,  1851. 
Horace  S.  Lyman  grew  up  in  Oregon  and  from 
his    own   knowledge,    from    personal    association 


Illustrative  Documents  279 

with  pioneer  missionaries  and  others,  and  from 
reading,  he  became  well  acquainted  with  the  his- 
tory of  Oregon.  He  was  the  author  of  a  "History 
of  Oregon"  published  in  1903.  His  associate  edi- 
tors were  Mr.  Harvey  W.  Scott,  Judge  Charles 
B.  Bellinger,  and  Prof.  Frederic  G.  Young.  In 
the  fourth  volume  of  this  history,  page  381,  it  is 
said:  "Whether  the  justice  of  history,  and  the 
recognition  of  after  times,  when  personal  interests 
and  partizan  spites  are  dissipated,  and  a  character 
like  that  of  McLoughlin  stands  forth  as  one  of  the 
best  ever  produced  under  the  British  flag,  and  one 
of  the  best  ever  given  to  America,  should  be  re- 
garded as  compensation  for  the  injustice  and  suf- 
ferings of  a  life  darkened  in  old  age,  may  not  be 
determined.  Yet  the  historian  must  ever  assert 
that  a  character  worthy  of  perpetual  commemo- 
ration and  admiration,  illuminating,  by  humanity 
and  Christian  doctrine,  the  dark  chapters  of  wil- 
derness life  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and 
setting  a  star  of  hope  over  the  barracks  of  a  mer- 
cenary trading  company,  is  worth  all  personal 
sacrifice.  It  is  of  such  acts  that  great  history  con- 
sists. Even  to  the  Doctor  himself,  going  down  in 
old  age  and  poverty,  and  doubting  whether  his 
family  would  have  a  support,  and  believing  that 
he  had  better  have  been  shot  as  a  beast  than  to  have 
so  suffered,  we  may  hope  that  it  was  but  'a  light 
affliction,  compared  with  the  perpetual  conscious- 
ness of  a  life  of  peace  and  good  will  sustained  in  a 
period  menaced  by  war." 

As  I  have  said,  my  uncle,  Daniel  S.  Holman, 
was  one  of  the  immigrants  of  1843.    He  was  then 


28o  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

about  twenty-one  years  old.  He  will  be  eighty- 
five  years  old  the  fifteenth  of  November,  1907. 
He  lives  at  McMinnville,  Oregon,  strong  in  mind 
and  body.  When  I  was  honored  by  being  selected 
to  deliver  the  address,  I  wrote  him  asking  for  his 
opinion  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin,  for  I  knew  his 
feelings.  He  wrote  me  August  7,  1905.  In  this 
letter  he  said:  "I  received  yours  requesting  me 
to  tell  you  of  some  of  the  kind  acts  of  Doctor  Mc- 
Loughlin. It  would  take  more  time  than  I  have 
to  speak  of  all  the  very  good  things  that  he  did, 
but  I  can  say  that  he  did  all  that  was  in  his  power 
to  do  to  help  the  starving,  wornout  and  poverty 
stricken  [immigrants]  that  came  to  Oregon.  For 
the  first  three  or  four  years  after  I  came  if  he  had 
not  helped  us  we  could  not  have  lived  in  Oregon. 
At  the  time  we  came  he  sent  his  boats  to  The 
Dalles,  free  of  cost,  to  help  all  that  could  not  help 
themselves  to  go  down  the  river.  He  also  sent 
food  and  clothing  to  the  destitute  and  gave  it  to 
them.  He  also  furnished  seed  grain  to  everyone 
who  wanted,  and  waited  for  his  pay  until  they 
raised  wheat  to  pay.  The  fact  is  there  never  was 
a  better  man  than  he  was.  He  did  more  than  any 
other  man  did  to  settle  Oregon.  History  says  Doc- 
tor Whitman  was  the  man  who  saved  Oregon  to  the 
United  States,  but  that  is  not  true.  It  was  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. So  says  every  man  that  is  a  man,  that  came 
to  Oregon  up  to  1849.  He  furnished  the  entire 
immigration  with  food  and  clothing  for  the  first 
year  after  we  came.  The  people  did  not  have 
money  to  live  on  and  so  he  fed  and  clothed  us  all. 


Illustrative  Documents  281 

Some  never  paid  him  but  some  did  pay  the  good 
old  man." 

And  he  added  a  postscript  to  say  that  his  wife 
thought  he  had  not  said  enough  about  Dr.  John 
McLoughlin.  She  has  been  my  uncle's  loving  and 
faithful  help-mate  for  more  than  fifty-nine  years. 
She  is  a  pioneer  of  1846.  She,  too,  is  still  strong, 
mentally  and  physically.  My  uncle  said  in  the 
postscript:  ''I  can  say  that  I  am  sure  no  man  could 
have  done  better  than  he  did  to  us  all.  In  the  fall 
of  1845  I  went  out  to  meet  the  immigrants  and  was 
gone  from  home  six  or  eight  weeks  without  a 
change  of  clothing.  I  got  back  to  Vancouver 
where  the  Doctor  then  lived.  I  was  as  ragged  as 
I  could  be.  I  went  to  his  office  and  told  him  I 
wanted  some  clothing,  but  had  no  money.  He 
gave  me  an  order  to  his  son  to  let  me  have  what- 
ever I  wanted  in  the  store.  He  treated  others  as 
he  did  me.  In  1848  he  let  every  one  who  wanted 
to  go  to  the  mines  have  all  they  needed,  on  time,  to 
go  to  California.  Some  never  paid  him.  Have 
you  anyone  in  Portland  that  would  help  any  and 
all  such  men  ofif  to  the  mines  on  such  chances  of 
getting  their  pay?  I  don't  think  there  is  such  a 
man  in  Oregon,  or  any  other  place.  You  can't  say 
too  much  in  his  praise." 

Joseph  Watt,  a  pioneer  of  1844,  from  whose 
"Recollections  of  Dr.  John  McLoughlin"  I  have 
already  quoted,  also  said,  in  said  Recollections-?'^ 
"The  next  I  saw  of  the  Doctor  was  in  Oregon  City, 
he  having  stayed  at  Fort  Vancouver  until  all  the 

"  Transactions   of   the   Oregon   Pioneer   Association   for   1886,   pp. 
25-27. 


282  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

immigrants  for  that  year  [1844]  had  arrived.  He 
was  building  a  large  flouring  mill,  at  that  time 
nearing  its  completion.  He  already  had  a  saw- 
mill in  full  blast,  also  was  building  a  dwelling 
house,  preparing  to  move  to  that  place,  which  he 
did  in  the  following  spring.  From  that  time  to 
his  death  he  was  a  prominent  figure  in  Oregon 
City.  Nothing  pleased  him  better  than  to  talk 
with  the  settlers,  learn  how  they  were  getting 
along,  their  prospects,  of  their  ability  to  live,  and 
to  help  others.  He  was  anxious  that  every  one 
should  be  well  and  kept  busy.  He  could  not  en- 
dure idleness  or  waste.  Over-reaching,  or,  what 
we  Americans  call  'sharp  practice,'  he  had  no 
patience  with  whatever.  As  far  as  he  was  con- 
cerned all  transactions  were  fair,  straight-forward 
and  honorable.  Those  who  knew  him  best  never 
thought  of  disputing  his  word  or  his  declared  in- 
tentions, although  there  were  some  high  in  au- 
thority who  did  this  in  after  years,  apparently  for 
selfish  motives;  and  through  their  representations, 
caused  the  U.  S.  Government  to  do  an  act  of  great 
injustice.  But  I  am  proud  to  be  able  to  say  that 
all,  or  nearly  all  of  the  first  settlers,  did  not  en- 
dorse the  action,  and  never  rested  until  the  wrong 
was  adjusted  as  nearly  as  it  was  possible  to  do  so. 
.  It  appeared  by  common  consent  that  he 
was  practically  the  first  governor  of  the  great 
North  Pacific  Coast.  No  man  ever  fulfilled  that 
trust  better  than  Dr.  John  McLoughlin.  He  was 
always  anxious  over  the  Indian  problem.  No  one 
understood  the  Indian  character  better  than  he 
did.    All  the  Indians  knew  him  as  the  great  'White 


Illustrative  Documents  283 

Chief,'  and  believed  whatever  he  said  could  be 
depended  on ;  that  he  was  not  their  enemy,  but  was 
strictly  just  with  them  in  every  thing; -could 
punish  or  reward,  as  he  thought  best,  and  no 
trouble  grew  out  of  it.  But  with  the  settlers  the 
case  was  different.  .  .  .  Dr.  McLoughlin! 
Kind,  large-hearted  Dr.  John  McLoughlin!  One 
of  nature's  noblemen,  who  never  feared  to  do  his 
duty  to  his  God,  his  country,  his  fellow-men  and 
himself,  even  in  the  wilderness.  The  pioneers  of 
this  great  North-West  feel  that  they  owe  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  a  debt  of  gratitude  above  all 
price,  and  that  they  and  their  posterity  will  cherish 
his  memory  by  a  suitable  monument  placed  on  the 
highest  pinnacle  of  fame  within  the  State  of 
Oregon." 

Archbishop  F.  N.  Blanchet  came  to  Oregon  in 
1838  as  Vicar-General  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  in  Oregon.  He  was  consecrated  as  Arch- 
bishop in  Quebec  in  1845.  In  his  "Historical 
Sketches  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Oregon"  (pub- 
lished in  1878) ,  from  which  I  have  already  quoted, 
he  also  said  of  Dr.  McLoughlin  (pp.  8  and  9)  : 
"He  was  one  of  'nature's  noblemen'  in  every 
sphere  of  life.  Of  commanding  presence,  strict 
integrity,  sound  judgment,  and  correct  principles 
of  justice,  no  man  was  better  qualified  for  the  posi- 
tion he  occupied  as  the  father  and  friend  of  both 
the  Indians  and  the  whites  who  then  jointly  occu- 
pied the  Pacific  northwest.  Dr.  McLoughlin  was 
the  arbiter  to  whom  both  whites  and  Indians 
looked  for  the  settlement  of  their  differences,  and 
the  friend  from  whom  they  sought  relief  in  all 


284  Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 

their  difficulties.  .  .  .  Under  the  impartial 
supervision  of  this  good  and  great  man  the  busi- 
ness of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  prospered  amaz- 
ingly; he  perpetuated  peace  between  the  Indians 
and  the  employes  of  the  Company.  .  .  .  He 
also  extended  assistance  to  every  immigrant  whose 
necessities  required  it,  and  his  good  deeds  have 
enshrined  his  name  amidst  the  most  honored  of 
the  pioneers  of  the  Pacific  Coast."  And  on  page 
71  Archbishop  Blanchet  said:  "Dr.  John  Mc- 
Loughlin  was  the  father  of  the  orphans  and  serv- 
ants of  the  H.  B.  Co.;  the  father  of  the  French- 
Canadian  colonies  of  Cowlitz  and  Wallamette 
Valley;  of  all  the  American  immigrants;  and  a 
great  benefactor  of  the  Catholic  Church." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Rev.  Daniel  Lee  was 
a  Methodist  missionary,  who  came  to  Oregon  in 
1834.  He  worked  faithfully  and  earnestly  for 
about  ten  years  when  he  returned  to  the  Eastern 
States.  He  continued  in  the  ministry  and  died 
about  1895.  His  son.  Rev.  William  H.  Lee,  is 
the  Pastor  of  the  People's  Mission  Church  at  Colo- 
rado Springs.  He  was  in  Portland  in  1905. 
In  answer  to  the  inquiry  of  Mr.  G.  H.  Himes, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Soci- 
ety, Rev.  William  H.  Lee  wrote  the  following  let- 
ter at  his  home,  July  3 1 ,  1905,  to  Mr.  Himes :  "As 
the  son  of  a  pioneer  Oregon  Missionary  I  wish  to 
add  my  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin.  For  10  years  my  father  Rev. 
Daniel  Lee  labored  in  missionary  work  in  Oregon 
and  during  all  these  years  John  McLoughlin  was 
his  friend.     When  my  Father  and  Mother  were 


Illustrative  Documents  285 

united  in  marriage  it  was  within  the  hospitable 
walls  of  Ft.  Vancouver  and  we  treasure  a  mar- 
riage certificate  signed  by  John  McLoughlin  as 
one  of  the  witnesses.  Many  times  have  I  heard 
my  Father  and  Mother  speak  of  the  kindness  of 
Dr.  John  McLoughlin.  And  one  of  the  most 
pleasant  memories  of  my  recent  visit  to  Portland 
was  the  privilege  I  had  of  stopping  in  Oregon 
City  and  placing  some  flowers  on  the  grave  of 
my  Father  and  Mother's  friend." 

The  well  known  writer,  S.  A.  Clarke,  who  was 
an  Oregon  immigrant  of  1850,  published  a  two  vol- 
ume work  in  1903,  entitled:  "Pioneer  Days  of 
Oregon  History."  In  this  work  (vol.  i,  pp.  214, 
215)  Mr.  Clarke  says  of  Dr.  McLoughlin:  "It 
was  because  of  his  loyalty  to  humanity  and  his 
kindness  to  Americans  that  he  lost  his  high  official 
station  and  was  left  almost  heartbroken  in  his  old 
age.  We  can  afford  to  hold  up  in  contrast  those 
who  profited  by  his  bounty  and  left  him  to  pay 
the  bill;  also  those -be  they  Missionaries  or  who 
-  that  tried  to  rob  him  of  his  land  claim,  with  the 
nobler  minded  man -John  McLoughlin  -  who 
did  so  much  and  lost  so  much  for  humanity,  and 
never  expressed  regret." 

Mr.  Clarke  in  this  work  (vol.  i,  p.  226)  nar- 
rates the  following  incident,  which  was  told  to  him 
by  Dr.  William  C.  McKay,  who  was  a  grandson 
of  Mrs.  Dr.  John  McLoughlin.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  her  first  husband  was  Alexander 
McKay,  who  was  killed  in  the  capture  of  the  Ton- 
quin  in  181 1.  "In  1843  William  Beagle  and  family 
reached  Vancouver  destitute,  and  he  had  the  ty- 


286  Dr.  John  McLoughlin 

phus  fever.  McLoughlin  heard  of  it  and  told 
Dr.  Barclay  there  was  a  sick  and  destitute  family 
at  the  landing;  to  fix  up  a  house  for  them,  make 
them  comfortable  and  attend  to  the  sick. 

"Dr.  W.  C.  McKay  had  just  returned  from  the 
States  where  he  pursued  medical  studies.  So  the 
doctor  invited  him  to  assist  in  taking  care  of  his 
patients.  There  was  the  mother  and  several  chil- 
dren, who  had  all  they  needed  for  two  months, 
until  Beagle  got  better,  when  he  went  to  Govern- 
or McLoughlin  and  asked  what  his  bill  was. 
'Tut,  tut,  tut!  bill,  bill,  bill!  Take  care  of  your- 
self, sir!  That  is  the  bill!"  Beagle  pleaded 
that  even  the  doctor  couldn't  afford  to  take  care  of 
his  family  and  treat  them  so  long  without  pay. 
*Tut,  tut,  tut,'  was  the  reply.  'You  do  the  best 
you  can  for  some  other  man  who  is  in  trouble,  and 
that  will  pay  me.' 

"He  sent  them  up  the  Willamette,  free  of 
charge,  sold  them  supplies  that  were  necessiary 
until  Beagle  could  earn  money,  and  was  finally 
paid  for  them  in  full.  This  is  but  one  instance  in 
the  many  where  the  kindness  and  generosity  of  Dr. 
McLoughlin  was  manifested  toward  Americans 
who  reached  Vancouver  sick  and  impoverished 
and  received  his  generous  and  kindly  care." 


INDEX 


INDEX 


ABERNETHY,  General  George, 
65,  66,  109,  ii6,  122,  126,  134, 
135,  187,  209,  211,  223,  23s,  240, 
243. 
Abernethy  Island,  102,  103,  107, 
108,  no,  114,  u6,  117,  122,  126, 
130,  134,  13s,  141.  142,  143,  153, 
200,  214,  228,  235,  236,  237,  239, 
242,  262. 
Academy,  Wesleyan,  112  {see  also 

Schools). 
Acapuico    (Mex.),    144. 
Act,   Organic,    67;   of   1848,   114; 

trading,  177. 
Adams,     Thomas     (an     Indian), 

185. 
Agriculture,  85,  258. 
Alaska,   19. 

America,  38,  175,  i8o,  279;  Brit- 
ish, 32,  95    {see  also  Canada)  ; 
North,  41,  177,  178,  179;  South, 
189;  a  ship,  68. 
Americans,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37,  38, 
40,  42,  44,  45-52,  61,  62,  64,  66, 
69,  71,  72,  73,  74,  78,  83,  84,  85, 
88,   91,  92,   93,   94,  96,   97,   100, 
102,  124,  127,  129,  133,  156,  157, 
167,  168,  170,  182,  199,  213,  220, 
238,  239,  244,  249,  250,  253,  254, 
257,  258,  259,  260,  261,  263,  264, 
266,  268,  272,  276,  282,  284,  285, 
286. 
Anderson,  John,  205. 
Applegate,  Jesse,  67,  99,  108,  119, 

120,  150,  151,  224,  237. 
Apples,  181   [see  also  Fruit). 


Army,  British,  23,  24,  91,  227. 
Arnold,  Benedict,  130,  230,  234. 
Arkansas  (state),  221. 
Arrendrill,  C.  T.,  205. 
Articles   of   Agreement,   224-226. 
Astor,  John  Jacob,  20,  24. 
Astoria,  19,  20,  27,  194,   197,  212. 
Atlantic  Ocean,  279. 
Attorneys,  107,  118,  212,  218,  219, 
225,  247. 

BABCOCK,  Dr.  I.  L.,  210. 

Bailey,  Dr. — ,  210. 

Baker's  Bay,  195. 

Ball,  John,  257. 

Baltimore,  186. 

Bancroft,  Hubert  Howe,  History 
of  Oregon,  cited,  92,  97,  99,  107, 
no,  n6,  211,  227,  229,  270-272. 

Baptists,  133,  238,  263. 

Barclay,  Dr. — ,  76,  286. 

Barlow  Road,  91. 

Bates,  James  M.,  205. 

Battles,   23,   24    {see  also   Wars). 

Beagle,   William,   285. 

Beaumont   (Canadian  parish),  23. 

Beaver,  Rev.   Herbert,   34. 

Beaver-skins,   191. 

Beef,  43,  44,  45,  195,  267. 

Beers,  Alanson,  65,  205. 

Belcher,  Sir  Edward,  43,  44,  266, 

267,  268,  269. 
Bellamy,  G.  W.,  205. 
Bellinger,  Judge  Charles  B.,  279. 
Bennet,   V.,   205. 
Berry,  William  J.,  135. 


290 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


Blanchet,  Archbishop  Francis  Nor- 
bert,  162;  Historical  Sketches, 
cited,  98,  99,  283,  284. 

Blue  Mountains,  33. 

Boats,  78,  184,  201,  232,  263,  280, 
{see  also  Ships). 

Bonds,  208,  209,  217,  218,  225,  227. 

Bonneville,  Captain  — ,  33,  49, 
117,  199. 

Boone,  Daniel,  83. 

Boston  (Mass.),  48,  52,  186. 

Bostons  (name  given  to  Ameri- 
cans),  72,  73,   74. 

Boundaries,  of  Oregon  County,  19, 
20,  21,  39,  68,  86,  101,  129,  131, 

231,  232,  233,  236. 
Bowlin, — ,  229. 

Brallier,  Henry,  letter  by,  196,  197. 
Bread,  59. 
Brewer,  H.  B.,  205. 
Bribery,  143. 
Bridges,  J.  C,  205. 
British,  35,  39,  40,  64,  67,  68,  92, 
97i  157,  165,  166,  215,  216,  231, 

232,  239. 

Brooks,  Wm.  (an  Indian),  185. 

Broughtan,  Lieut.  — ,  28. 

Brown, — ,  221. 

Brown,  G.,  205. 

Brown,  Jeffrey,  205. 

Brown,  J.  Henry,  Political  history 

of  Oregon,  cited,  66,  119,  209. 
Brown,  William,  205. 
Brum,   William,   205. 
Bryant,  Judge    W.    P.,    122,   130, 

133,  134,  135,  142,  148,  152,  228, 

229,  235,  239,  240,  241,  243,  249, 

262. 
Bryce, — ,    The  remarkable  history 

of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 

cited,  181. 
Buddha,  146. 

Burgoyne,   General  John,  23. 
Burnett,  Peter  H.,  70,  73,   75,  76, 

77,  120,  121,  151,  273,  274. 
Burns,    Hugh,    210. 


Butler,  59. 

CALCUTTA    (India),  48. 

California,  19,  25,  37,  44,  45,  50, 
51,  52,  64,  69,  76,  123,  124,  138, 
199,  248,  252,  253,  281. 

California  Bill,  132,  234. 

Cambridge    (Mass.),  45,  258. 

Campbell,  H.,  205. 

Campbell,  J.  J.,  205. 

Camp  du  Sable,  258. 

Canada,  Dominion  of,  20,  22,  23, 
24,  III,  113,  186;  Upper,  38,  39. 

Canadians,  79,  133,  189,  190,  238; 
French,  41-45,  46,  61,  98,  99, 
265,  284. 

Canal,  201. 

Cannon,  29. 

Canoes,  54,  72,  197. 

Cape  Horn,  258. 

Carolinas,  84. 

Cartee,  L.  F.,  153. 

Carter,  David,  205. 

Cascades,  70,  71,  76,  197;  Moun- 
tains, 79,  91.     See  also  Rapids. 

Cason,  F.  C,  153. 

Casualties,  70. 

Cathlamet,  195. 

Catholics,  22,  98,  99,  100,  133,  147, 
151,  157,  167,  171,  189,  190,  191, 
192,  238,  276. 

Cattle,  28,  37,  43,  44,  45,  57,  66, 
75,  76,  77,  78,  87,  117,  183,  194, 
199,  232,  258,  263,  266,  268. 

Cayuse  (Indian  tribe),  37,  40,  61, 
74,  88,  145,  274  {see  also 
Wars). 

Champoeg  (Ore.),  65,  69  {see 
also   the   following). 

Champooing,   192. 

Chance,  William,  212. 

Charles  II  (king  of  Great  Brit- 
ain), 21. 

Charters,  21,  95,  194  {see  also 
Grants). 

Chemekete,   (Ore.),  115. 


Index 


291 


Chicopee    (Mass.),  256. 

Churches,  99,  238;  Catholic,  157, 
167,  171,  283;  English,  167; 
Methodist,  109.  See  also  Mis- 
sionaries  and   kindred   topics. 

Clackamas  County   (Ore.),   115. 
124. 

Clackamas  Falls,  236. 

Clackamas  Female  Protestant  Sem- 
inary, 133,  238. 

Clackamas  River,  106,  107,  iii, 
I20,  237. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  83. 

Clarke, — ,  191. 

Clarke,  S.  A.,  Pioneer  days,  cited, 
285,  286. 

Clayoquot  Sound,  24. 

Coggswell,  William   (artist^,  162. 

Colonies,  American,  20. 

Colorado    Springs    (Col.),    284. 

Columbia  River,  20,  21,  26,  27,  28, 
30,  32,  33,  34.  35.  36,  38.  42,  45. 
46,  47,  49,  51,  59i  67,  70,  71,  79, 
80,  85,  89,  90,  100,  103,  136,  140, 
154,  19s,  198,  199,  201,  203,  204, 
216,  222,  230,  232,  24s,  257,  258, 
259,  263,  265. 

Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
118. 

Compo,  Charles,  205. 

Corny ns, — ,  217. 

Confiscations,   159. 

Confucius,  146. 

Congregationalists,  133,  147,  238, 
278. 

Congress,  2i,  65,  104,  105,  116,  i2i, 
123,  129,  130,  132,  135,  136,  137, 
138,  139,  142,  143,  144,  145.  146, 
149,  150,  152,  153,  154.  155,  203, 
204,  210,  215,  217,  220,  232,  243, 
244,  246,  248,  252,  257,  260,  262, 
266,  274. 

Congressional  Globe,  cited,  129, 
229,  234,  247. 

Constitution,  64,  121,  215,  217,  250. 

Conventions,  21,  32,  loi,  113,  129, 


175,  176,  177,  221,  254  {see  also 

Treaties). 
Cook,  Aaron,  205. 
Coombs,  E.  N.,  205. 
Copeland,  A.,  205. 
Corn,  213. 
Coursen, — ,  221. 
Courts,  38,  39,  109,  113,  IIS,  116, 

121,   128,   142,   198,   215,  221,   222, 

223,  225,  228,  229,  240,  249,  250, 

251,  252. 

Cowenia, — ,  128. 

Cowlitz,  284. 

Crawford,  Medorum,  69,  205. 

Creeks,  184. 

Curry,  George  L.,  243,  244,  249. 

DALLES  (Indians),  72,  73. 

Dartmouth   College,   74. 

Davis,  George,  205. 

Davis,  S.,  205. 

Deady,   Judge    Matthew   P.,    128, 

162,  272,  273. 
Debt,  collection  of,  252. 
Deeds,    land,    115,    ii8,    203,   205, 

206-208,  217,  225. 
De  Haven, — ,  128. 
Donation  Land  Law,  loi,  102,  103, 

105,  no,  III,  123,  124,  128,  129, 

137,  140-143,  145,  149,  150.  152, 

154,  157,  159,  160,  161,  164,  247, 

248,  251,  256. 
Douglas,  James,  39,  43,  44,  67,  75, 

191,  195,  226,  227,  268,  270. 
Dryad,    (a  ship),  51. 
Dunn, — ,   History    of   the    Oregon 

Territory,  cited,  29,  36,  37,  266. 

EDMUNDS,  John,  205. 
Edwards, — ,  183. 

Edwards,  P.  L.   (teacher),  55,  73. 
Ekin,  Richard  H.,  205. 
Elections,  244. 
Elijah,  an  Indian,  37. 
Ellice,  E.,  178. 

England,  20,  25,   32,   36,  43,   103, 
"3,  125,  134,  167,  177,  239,  273. 


292 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


English,  38,  125,  i33.  183,  238,  253, 

Freshets,  184. 

{see  also  British,  England,  and 

Frost,  Rev.  J.  H.,  188,  269. 

Great  Britain). 

Fruit,  28. 

English    Church,    98,    191. 

Funds,  misappropriation  of,  187. 

Epidemics,  27,  60. 

Furs,  20,  26,  29,  32,  35,  36,  42,  52. 

Epitaph,    158. 

Furtrade,  32,  33,  177,   178,  202. 

Epps,  Captain  — ,  24. 

Furtraders,  24,  31,  33,  34,  35,  37, 

Ermatinger,  Frank,  274. 

49    {see   also   Trade    and   com- 

Evans, Elwood,  History  of  Pacific 

merce). 

Northwest,  cited,  110,  116,  2ti. 

Executions,  38,  40. 

GALE,  Joseph,  65. 

Expeditions,  43,  45-52,  54,  76,  77. 

Garden,  203. 

195,  227,  268. 

Gary,  Rev.  George,  63,   109,  no. 

Exports,   28,   29. 

222. 

Gay,  George,  210. 

FAIRFIELD    (Ore.),  99. 

George  (Fort),  20,  21,  27,  28. 

Farmers,  199,  234. 

Germany,   26. 

Farms,  28,  41,  42,  81,  i8i,  194,  199, 

Ghent,  20,  2i. 

213,  215,  217,  266. 

Gibbs,  Joseph,   205. 

Farnham,   Thomas   J.    (traveler), 

Gifts,  57,  59,  71,  73,  82,  138,  139, 

30- 

141,  165. 

Faulitz  Plains,  191. 

Gilpin,  Major  W.,  226,  227. 

Figueroa, — ,  (governor  of  Califor- 

Girtman, Daniel,  205. 

nia),  51. 

Gladstone  Park,   106,   in. 

Fillmore,  Millard,  141,  249. 

Goats,  28. 

Fitzgerald,    James     Edward,    The 

Gordon,  Captain  — ,  68,  91. 

Hudson's   Bay    Company,    cited, 

Governor's  Island.    See  Abernethy 

264-268,  269. 

Island. 

Flatheads  (Indian  tribe),  55,  112. 

Grain,  28  {see  also  Wheat). 

Flour,  117,  122  {see  also  Wheat). 

Grants,    178,    179,    180,   205     {see 

Force,  James,  205. 

also  Charters). 

Forest  Creek   (Ore.),  243. 

Gray,  W.  H.,  54;  History  of  Ore- 

Forts, 20,  21,  24,  27,  28,  32,  33,  34, 

gon,  cited,  66,  119,  205,  209,  210. 

35- 

Great  Britain,   19,  20,  21,  32,   33, 

Fowl,  43. 

34,  39i  64,  65,  66,  67,  68,  71,  90, 

Eraser,  Angelique,  mother  of  Mc- 

93> 95.   100,   loi,   104,  112,  128, 

Loughlin,  23. 

141,  142,  156,  157,  164,  175,  176, 

Eraser,  Malcolm,  23. 

221,   250,  265.      {See  also   Eng- 

Eraser, Samuel,  M.  D.,  23. 

land). 

Eraser,   General  — ,  23. 

Green  River,   53. 

Eraser   Highlanders,   23. 

Greenhow  — ,   History  of  Oregon 

Fremont,  Col.  John  C,  77,  78,  227, 

and  California,  cited,  i8o. 

233- 

Gregory  XVI    (pope),   161. 

French,    38,    182,    245     {see    also 

Griffin,  J.   S.,   123. 

Canadians,  French). 

Griffith, — ,  191. 

French  Prairie    (Ore.),   56,   102. 

Grover,  Gov.  L.  F.,  158,  159. 

Index 


293 


HALL,—,  251. 

Hall   (Fort),  46,  47,  69,  129,  131, 

229,  231,  233,   252,  258. 
Hannah, — ,   128. 
Harvey,   Daniel,    25,    160. 
Harvey,    James    W.    McLoughlin, 
(grandson  of  Dr.  J.  McLough- 
lin), 25,  63. 
Hastings,—,  203,  205,  207,  209. 
Hathaway,   Felix,    114,     115,    134, 

205,  235,  236,  239. 
Hauxhurst,  W.,  205. 
Hawaiian  Islands,  28,  51,  212,  213, 

222. 
Hess,  Joseph,  79. 
Hill,  David,  65. 
Hill,   Tom    (a    Shawnee   Indian), 

74- 
Himes,   George   H.,   272,  284. 
Hines,    Rev.    Gustavus,    48,    205, 
223;   History   of   Oregon,   cited, 
57,  59,  222. 
Hines,  Rev.  H.  K.,  D.  D.,  48,  55, 
166-169,    187;    Missionary    his- 
tory, cited,  55,  56,  58,  59,  60,  6i, 
62,   65,  106,   no,  III,   112,  113, 
185,   186. 
Hoaikaika    (ship),  222,  223. 
Hofstatter,  John,  205. 
Hogs,  28,  75,  76, 
Holraan,  Daniel  S.,  70,  279-281. 
Holman,     Frederick    V.,     preface, 
15-17;    Dr.    John    McLoughlin, 
19-172. 
Holman,  J.,  205. 
Holman,   James   D.    (the   author's 

father),   138,  241. 
Holman,     John     (grandfather    of 

the  author),  70. 
Holman,  Joseph,  113,  114. 
Holman,  Woodford   C,   138. 
Honolulu    (Hawaii),  222. 
Hoover,  John,  251,  252. 
Horregon,  Jer.,  205. 
Horses,  28,  51,  69,  77,  87,  159,  183, 
194. 


Howard, — ,  221. 

Howard,  John,  205. 

Howison,  Lieut.  Neil  M.,  135,  136. 

Hubbard,   T.   J.,   205. 

Hudson  Bay,  184. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company,  20,  21, 
22,  24,  25,  26,  27,  29,  32,  33,  34, 
35,  36,  37,  38,  39,  42,  43,  44,  45, 
46,  47,  49,  50,  51,  53,  54,  56,  57, 
58,  62,  66,  67,  68,  69,  71,  73,  74, 
76,  77,  79,  81,  86,  90,  91,  93,  94, 
95,  97,  102,  104,  no,  115,  ii6> 
117,  118,  120,  123,  124,  125,  129, 
130,  131,  133,  134,  135,  139,  i50» 
155,  156,  157,  162,  167,  i68,  176, 
177,  178,  179,  185,  191,  192,  194, 
195,  196,  197,  199,  200,  201,  202, 
204,  2x0,  212,  216,  220,  229,  230, 
231,  232,  238,  239,  241,  242,  247, 
248,  255,  257,  258,  259,  264,  266, 
267,  268,  269,  272,  273,  274,  275, 
280,  284. 
Hudspath, — ,  237. 
Humason,  Orlando,  153, 
Hunters,  191. 

IDAHO,  19,  46,  54. 

Illinois   (state),  113. 

Immigrants,  and  immigration  to 
Oregon,  15,  41,  61,  62,  64,  69- 
90,  91,  92,  93,  94,  96,  100,  105, 
116,  129,  132,  136,  140,  148,  150, 
151,  165,  169,  196,  197,  230,  232, 
233,  248,  252,  253,  261,  263,  265, 
269,  272,  273,  279,  280,  281,  284. 

Independence    (Mo.),  70,   87. 

Indians,  24,  26,  27,  32,  35-41,  49, 
54,  55,  60,  61,  62,  63,  71,  72,  73, 
74,  87,  88,  92,  95,  100,  103,  107, 
112,  124,  132,  141,  156,  163,  171, 
177,  178,  179,  180,  182,  185,  i86, 
188,  192,  193,  196,  202,  230,  235, 
238,  252,  256,  274,  275,  282,  283, 
284. 
Ireland,  22,  176,  250. 
Irish,    133,   151,    182,   238. 


294 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


Iroquois    (Indians),   73. 
Ithaca  (N.  Y.),  S3- 
Ivory,  63. 

JACKSON,— (furtrader),  33. 

Jacicson,    B.   B.,    153. 

Japanese,  182. 

Jesuitism,  234. 

Jesuits,  6i. 

Jews,   146. 

Johnson,  W.,  205. 

Judges,    134,    162,    239,    244,   245, 

250. 
Judson,  L.  H.,  205. 

KAMOURASKA  (parish  in  Can- 
ada), 22. 

Kaministiquia  River,   24. 

Kelley,  Hall  J.,   50,   51,   52. 

Kelly,  Col.  — ,  278. 

Kentucky    (state),  83. 

Kilbourn,   Captain  W.  K.,  237. 

Kincaid,  H.  R.,  Biennial  Report, 
of  iSgg,  cited,  228, 

Klakamus    Plains,    204. 

Klakamus  River,  200  {see  also 
Clackamas). 

Kone,— ,  187,  188. 

LADD  &  CO.,  204. 

La   Framboise,    Michel,    195,    197. 

Lambert,  Captain  — ,  182. 

Lancaster,   Columbus,    123,  245. 

Land  Claims,  68,  80,  88,  99,  loi- 
114,  n8,  119,  122,  123,  124,  125, 
127,  129,  132,  136,  137,  138,  139, 
140,  141,  142,  143,  144,  146,  152, 
153,  154.  155,  159,  160,  200,  202, 
205,  214,  218,  220,  222,  223,  225, 
227,  228,  229,  232,  234,  235,  236, 
237,  238,  240,  241,  242,  243,  245, 
251,  253,  262,  272,  277,  278,  285. 

Land  laws,  119,  120,  123  {see  also 
Donation  Land  Law). 

Lane,  Gen.  Joseph,  65,  235,  240, 
242,  248. 

Lapwai   (Idaho),  54. 


Lausanne  (a  ship),  48,  59,  61,  63, 
103,  105,   113,   115,   i86. 

Lawson,  J.,  205. 

Lawyer,  254. 

LeBreton,  George  W.,  205. 

Lee,  Rev.  Daniel  (missionary),  55, 
59,  73,  102.  "3,  "4,  181,  183, 
264,  269,  284. 

Lee,  Rev.  Jason  (missionary),  50, 
54,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59,  62,  65,  66, 
73,  102,  106,  no.  III,  112,  167, 
180-185,  x86,  187,  188,  189,  2IO, 
212,  214,  219,  222,  223,  235,  236, 

237- 
Lee,   Rev.    William    H.     (son  of 

Daniel),  opinion  of  McLoughlin, 

284,  285. 
Leslie,  Rev.  David,  58,   108,   no, 

224,  226,  227. 
Lewis,  Jr.,  S.,  205. 
Lewis,  Reuben,  205. 
Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition,  16. 
Lewiston    (Idaho),   54. 
Linn   Bill,  104,   iii,  261. 
Linn,  Senator  — ,   104,   in. 
Linnton     (Ore.),    75. 
London,  21,  29,  36,  43,  46,  59,  63, 

96,    112,    168,    175. 
Los  Angeles    (Cal.),   25. 
Lovejoy,   A.  Lawrence,   122,  226; 

letter  by,  218,  219. 
Lucier,  Etienne,  102,  103. 
Lumber,    28,    117,    122     {see    also 

Timber). 
Lyman,    Horace,   278. 
Lyman,  Rev.  Horace  S.,  History  of 

Oregon,  278,  279. 
Lytle, — ,  221. 

McCARVER,  General  — ,  73. 
McDougal,    Duncan,    20. 
McGillivray,   S.,   178. 
McGillivray,  W.,   178. 
McGruder,   Theodore,  240. 
McKarty,    William,   205. 
McKay, — ,  i8i. 


Index 


295 


McKay,  Alexander,  24,  285. 
McKay,  Dr.  William  C,  285. 
McLoughlin,    David     (brother    of 

Dr.  McL.),  23,  24. 
McLoughlin,  David     (son  of  Dr. 

McL.),   24,   25,   160. 
McLoughlin,    Eliza    (daughter   of 

Dr.  J.  McL.),  24. 
McLoughlin,  Eloisa   (daughter  of 

Dr.  McL.),  24,  25,  1 60. 
McLoughlin,  John  (father  of  fol- 
lowing), 22. 
McLoughlin,  Dr.  John:  revered  in 
Oregon,  15;  McLoughlin  Day, 
16;  life,  19-172;  illustrative 
documents  on,  175-286;  gene- 
alogy and  family,  22-25;  and 
the  Oregon  Country,  25-27; 
treatment  of  Indians,  35-41;  let- 
ters, etc.  by,  57,  149-152,  205, 
206,  229-243  {see  also  Mc- 
Loughlin Document,  and 
Deeds) ;  kindness  and  humanity 
of,  34,  36,  37,  45-48,  56,  57,  59, 
72,  73,  75-83,  89,  loo,  101,  106, 
163,  164,  167-172,  181,  182,  184, 
190,  197,  257-259,  272-286;  ap- 
pellations, 91,  161,  i68,  171,  282, 
283;  persecuted,  122,  123,  152- 
158;  his  land  claims  {see  Land 
Claims);  naturalized,  120-122; 
answer  to  Thurston,  130-135. 
McLoughlin,    John     (son    of   Dr. 

McL.),   24- 
McLoughlin,  Mrs.  Dr.  John,  285. 
McLoughlin  Day,    16,   196. 
McLoughlin   Document,   cited,   41, 
44,  48,  55,  71,  72,  82,  83,   103, 
155,    156,   253. 
McMinnville   (Ore.),  280. 
McNeil,  Captain  — ,  239. 
Magruder,   Theodore,    122. 
Marechell, — ,    196,    197. 
Marion  County   (Ore.),  102. 
Martin,  — ,  Hudson  Bay  Territor- 
ies, cited,  180,   181. 


Massachusetts   (state),  45,  112. 

Mazatlan  (Mex.),  222. 

May  Dacre    (a  ship),  47,  57, 

Meek,  Joseph  L.,   123. 

Melons,  i8i. 

Memphregog   (Lake),   112,   1x3. 

Methodists,  113,  n6,  119,  133,  147, 
238  {see  also  Missionaries,  and 
Missions). 

Mexican  Government,  52. 

Mexico,  222. 

Mills,  28,  79,  103,  115,  116,  n8, 
124,  125,  126,  127,  132,  134,  154, 
193,  199,  200,  201,  214,  234,  240, 
282. 

Milner,  Dr.  — ,  99. 

Milwaukee    (Ore.),   144,  262. 

Mines,  123,  281. 

Minto,  John,  37,  79,  164. 

Mirabel    (Cal.),  25. 

Missionaries,  38,  50,  56,  81,  100, 
102,  112,  147,  148,  166,  167,  169, 
180-185,  186,  190,  191,  192,  236, 
272,  279,  285;  Catholic,  98,  100; 
Congregational,  98;  Methodist, 
52,  54-63,  65,  88,  98,  103,  104, 
105,  109,  110,  111,  115,  126,  147, 
148,  187,  188,  212,  224,  258,  284; 
Presbyterian,  52-54,  98  {see  also 
Missions). 

Missionary  Board,  Report  to,  185- 
189,  222. 

Mission   Church,  284. 
Mission  Party,  123,  138,  144,  145. 
Missions    (Catholic),  192. 
Missions   (Methodist),  64,  67,  103, 
105,  106,  108,  109,  110,  111,  114, 
115,  116,  120,  123,  124,  127,  132, 
146,  185,  187,  192,  193,  202,  210, 
214,  222,  223,  226,  227,  228,  234, 
235,  245. 
Mississippi  River,  84. 
Missouri    (state),     58,   70,   84,  87, 

229. 
Modeste    (ship),   68. 
Moffitt,  J.  W.,  153. 


296 


Dr.  John  McLou^hlin 


Montana    (state),    19,   20. 

Monopolies,  44,   191,  2i6,  220. 

Montreal,  20,   22,  264. 

Morrison,  J.  L.,  205. 

Moss,   S.  W.,  205. 

Mount  Hood,  171,  275,  277. 

Mt.  McLoughlin,  170,  171. 

Mt.  Pitt,   170. 

Murders,  35,  40,  74. 

Myrick,   Mrs.   Josiah,   25,    158. 

NESMITH,    Col.   J.   W.,  41,   7°, 

71,  75,  123,  274. 
Nesqually,   269. 
Nevada    (state),   19. 
New  England,  85,  100. 
New  England  conference,  112. 
New   York    (city),    63,    185,    186, 

222. 
Neiu  York  Herald,  cited,  75. 
Nisqually  Plains,  269. 
North  Fork,  184. 
North  Pacific  Coast,  282. 
Northwest    Coast,    131,    201,    231, 

275. 
Northwest  Fur  Company,  20,  21, 

22,  24,  95,  176,  177,  178,  264. 
Nunnery,  238. 

Nutall,  —  (botanist),  49,  50. 
Nye,  Chauncey,  153. 

OAK,  192. 

Ohio    (state),   113. 

O'Neil,  James  A.,  205. 

O'Neill,—,  194. 

Oregon  (country,  territory,  and 
state),  15,  16,  17,  19,  20,  21,  22, 
25,  27,  29,  30,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36, 
37,  39,  40.  41,  42,  44,  48,  49,  51, 
52,  53,  54,  56,  57,  58,  59,  61, 
62,  63,  64-68,  69,  70,  71,  77,  79, 
81,  83,  84,  8s,  86,  88,  91,  92,  94, 
95,  96,  100,  loi,   103,  104,   109, 

no,   112,   113,   114,   115,   119,   121, 

122,  123,  124,  126,  129,  131,  132, 
»35,  137,  138,  139,  140,  142,  143, 
144,  145,  148,  153,  154,  156,  158, 


160,  i6i,  162,  164,  165,  i66,  167, 
168,  169,  170,  171,  172,  176,  185, 
187,  188,  190,  196,  197,  198,  199, 
201,  202,  204,  205,  206,  207,  208, 
209,  2n,  212,  213,  218,  221,  222, 

223,  224,  227,  228,  229,  231,  233, 
235,  238,  240,  250,  251,  252,  254, 
255,  256,  257,  258,  259,  260,  261, 
262,  263,  265,  266,  268,  269,  270, 
271,  273,  274,  276,  277,  278,  280, 
281,  283,  284. 

Oregon   (ship),  195. 

Oregon    Bill,    223,    233    {see    also 

Donation  Land  Law). 
Oregon    City    (Ore.),   42,    59,    66, 

68,  69,  70,  80,  82,  87,  91,  96,  loi, 
102,  103,  io6,  107,  108,  no,  III, 
115,  116,  118,  121,  122,  123,  124, 
125,  127,  132,  135,  136,  137, 
138,  139,  140,  141,  142,  154, 
155,  157,  159,  202,  205,  206,  207, 
208,  2n,  212,  213,  219,  220,  222, 

224,  225,  226,  227,  234,  237,  240, 
241,  242,  243,  244,  245,  247,  272, 
274,  278,  281,  282,  285. 

Oregon  City  Claim,  124   {see  also 

Land  claims). 
Oregon    Donation    Law,    19    {see 

also  Donation  Land  Law). 
Oregon  Historical  Society,   16,  68, 

75,  161,  180,  187,  212,  218,  223, 

224,  226,  263,  284. 
Oregon  House  Journal,  cited,  153, 

160. 
Oregon'tan,  cited,  196. 
Oregon  Land  Bill,    132    {see  also 

Donation   Land  Law). 
Oregon  Legislature,   67,   133,   152, 

153,  154,  i6o,  161,  163,  164,  170, 

171,  277. 
Oregon    Milling    Company,     io8, 

114,  115,  H7,  118,  122,  127,  130, 

200,    201. 

Oregon  Pioneer  Association,  41,  61, 

69,  71,  75,  79,  82,  t62,  163,  164, 
165,  212,  272,  274,  276,  277,  281. 


Index 


297 


Oregon  Provisional  Government, 
39,  40,  64-68,  70,  88,  92,  93,  101, 
109,  115,  119,  I20,  138,  151,  237, 
249,  251,  252,  253,  254,  276. 

Oregon  Reports,  cited,  251. 

Oregon  Senate  Journal,  cited,  160. 

Oregon  Spectator,  cited,  87,  124, 
130,  135,  137,  138,  139,  145,  229, 
243,  246,  256,  262,  272. 

Oregon  Statesman,  cited,  262. 

Oregon  Supreme  Court,  128. 

Oregon  Territorial  Government, 
19,  65,   138. 

Oxen,  44,  57,  76,  87,  88,  168,  183 
{see  also  Cattle). 

PACIFIC  Coast  and  slope,  15, 
273,  284. 

Pacific   Fur   Company,   20,   24. 

Pacific  Ocean,  19,  45,  186,  279. 

Pancott,  Theodore,  205. 

Paris   (France),  24. 

Park,  Captain  — ,  68,  91. 

Parker,  Rev.  Samuel  (Mission- 
ary), 53- 

Parliament,  32,  38,  177,  268. 

Parrish,  J.  L.,  62,  205. 

Patents,  215. 

Pawnee  Mission,   58. 

Peacock    (ship),   194,   196. 

Peel,  Lieut.  Wm.,  68,  91. 

Peel,   Sir  Robert,   68. 

Penalties,  35-41,  42. 

Pendleton   (Ore.),  48,  i66. 

Pennoyer,  Governor  Sylvester,  165. 

Peopeoraoxmox  (Indian  Chief),  37. 

Perkins,  Rev.  H.  K.  W.,  210. 

Pfeiffer,    W.    A.,    205. 

Philadelphia    (Penn.),  186,  190. 

Pillar  Rock,  38. 

Pine,  192. 

Pineries,  112. 

Pioneers,  15,  37,  67,  71,  77,  86,  91, 
loi,  137,  138,  139,  140,  148,  150, 
158,  163,  164,  165,  170,  171,  172, 
186,  270,  275,  281,  283,  284. 


Pittman,  Anna  Maria,  58. 

Platte    River,    184. 

Plows,  263. 

Polk  (County),  243. 

Polk,  James  K.,   21,   87,    100. 

Pomeroy,  Walter,  206,  210. 

Porpoise    (ship),    195. 

Portage,  236. 

Porter,  J.  M.   (Secretary  of  War), 

136. 
Portland    (Ore.),    16,    17,  25,   75, 
158,  159,  162,  196,  209,  278,  281, 
284,   285. 
Portland    General    Electric    Com- 
pany, 102. 
Potatoes,  28,  213. 
Prairies,    193. 

Presbyterians,   133,  146,  238. 
Prices,  33,  43,  44,  45,  46,  49,  77, 

n8,  201. 
Priests,  Catholic,  22,  61,  189,  191. 
Protestants,  100,  133,  146,  147,  190, 

238. 
Puget's  Island,    195. 
Puget  Sound,  68,  190,  269. 

QUEBEC    (city),  22,  283. 

RACCOON       (British      sloop-of- 

war),  20. 
Rae,  William  Glen,  24,  25,  69. 
Rafts,  70  {see  also  Ships). 
Rapids,  70,  102,  103,  114,  119,  136, 

191,  200,  20X,  202,  213,  224,  235, 

236,  242. 
Raymond,  W.  W.,  224,   226. 
Red  River  Settlement,  265,  269. 
Rees,  Hon.  Willard  H.,  274,  278; 

opinion  of  McLoughlin,  274-276. 
Regiments,   23,   274. 
Rekener,  J.,  205. 
Remick,  William  C,  204,  205. 
Revolution,  Cromwellian,  100. 
Richmond,  Dr.  — ,   188. 
Ricord,  John  (attorney),  107,  212- 

2i8,  220,   222,   223. 


298 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


Riviere   du   Loup    (a   parish),   22. 

Ships,   33,   35,   36,  38,  45,  47,  48, 

Robb,  J.  R.,  205. 

51,  58,  59,  61,  63,  68,  103,  IDS, 

Robertson,  James,  83. 

113,  115,  135,  181,  182,  183,  186, 

Rocky  Mountains,   19,  20,  49,   53, 

194,  195,  196,  222,  223,  258,  267. 

94,  97,   124,   162,   176,  177,  183, 

Shortess     petition,     104,     116-119, 

185,  200,  210,  259,  261,  265,  272, 

148,  175-209,  210,  212,  253,  254. 

275,  276  {see  also  Stony  Moun- 

Shortess,   Robert,     n6,     119,    196, 

tains). 

204,  206,  208,  209,  211,  255. 

Rogue  River  Indians,  274. 

Simpson,  Sir  George,  90,  96,  270. 

Rome    (Italy),  i6i. 

Sitka    (Alaska),   29. 

Roosevelt,   Theodore,   Winning  of 

Skinner,  A.  A.,  122. 

the    IVest,   cited,   84. 

Slacum, — ,   202. 

Roy,   Charles,    205. 

Slocum,  VV.   A.,   28. 

Russell, — ,  251. 

Smith,  A.  D.,  205. 

Russians,   201. 

Smith,    Jedediah     S.    (furtrader), 

33,   35,   36,   38,   74- 

ST.      GREGORY      the      Great, 

Smith,  Milton  W.,  209. 

Knight  of,   i6i. 

Snake  country,  47. 

St.  Lawrence  River,  22. 

Snake  River,  27,  196. 

Salem    (Ore.),   56,   iii,    113,  115, 

Snelling,    Vincent,    letter    to    Mc- 

"9,   138,   159,   163. 

Loughlin,  262-264. 

Salmon,    36,   43,   202. 

Sonoma   County    (Cal.),   25. 

Sand   Island,   35. 

Spalding,    Mrs.    Henry    H.,    54. 

Sandwich    Islands,    29,    187,    189, 

Spalding,  Rev.  Henry  H.,  54. 

204,    220. 

Spies,  91,  97. 

San  Francisco  (Cal.),  25,  69,  135. 

Staats,  Stephen,  82. 

Saratoga,  battle  of,  23. 

Stanstead    (Canada),   ii2. 

Savages,  26   {see  also  Indians). 

Stark, — ,  222. 

Sawyer, — ,   128. 

Starrs, — ,  222. 

Schoolhouses,   30. 

Statesman,  cited,  262. 

Schools,  98,  99,  133,  192,  238  {see 

Stikeen  (Fort),  24. 

also    Seminary). 

Stony   Mountains,    175,    176,    178, 

Scotch,   182,   190. 

180    {see   Rocky   Mountains). 

Scotland,   23,  24. 

Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  193. 

Scott,  Harvey  W.,  279. 

Sublette, —  (furtrader),    33. 

Seaside,   196,   197. 

Sue,    Eugene,    254. 

Seminary,  238    {see  also  Schools). 

Sumatra    (a    ship),    58. 

Senate  Document,  209. 

Superior    (lake),  24. 

Senators,  70,   158,  274. 

Surveyors,    224,    237,    251. 

Sevier,  John,  83. 

Sutton,  William  C,  119,  205,  210. 

Seymour,  Admiral  — ,  68,  91. 

Sweet   Water  River,   185. 

Shadden,  Thomas  J.,  205. 

, 

Shark    (ship),    135. 

Shawnees     (Indian    tribe),    74. 

TAXES,  67. 

Sheep,   28. 

Teachers,   missionaries   as,   193. 

Shepard,    Cyrus    (teacher),    55. 

Tennessee    (state),   83. 

Index 


299 


The  Dalles,  69,  70,  72,  73,  77, 
82,   91,    III,   197. 

Thing,  Captain  — ,  182 

Thomas  H.  Perkins  (American 
ship),  32,  194. 

Thomas,  Captain  — ,  36. 

Thompson,  L.  S.,  153. 

Thornton,  J.  Quinn,  247,  248,  254; 
History  of  Provisional  Govern- 
ment of  Oregon,  cited,  61,  62, 
276,   277. 

Thurston    (county),    170. 

Thurston,  Samuel  R.,  119,  i2i, 
122,  123,  229,  230,  231,  233,  234, 
237,  238,  239,  241,  242,  243,  244, 
24s,  246,  256,  261,  262,  263 ;  his 
letter,  123-140;  protests  against 
him,  137-140;  acts  approved, 
139;  acts  not  endorsed,  140; 
death,  144;  career  and  death, 
144-146;  illtreats  McLoughlin, 
148,  149;  false  statements  by, 
152,  161;  excerpts  from  speech, 
210,  211,  246-256,  258,  259,  260, 
261,   262. 

Timber,  201,  235,  236  {see  also 
Lumber) . 

Tolmie,   Dr.   F.   W.,   236. 

Tongue  Point   (Ore.),   52. 

Tonner,  A.,  205. 

Tonquin  (ship),  24,  285. 

Town, — ,    128. 

Townsend,  John  K^  Narrative  of 
a  Journey  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  cited,  49,   50. 

Trade  and  commerce,  95,  191,  192. 

Trade  licenses,  177,  178,  179,  180. 

Traders,  American,  33,  45-52,  81. 

Trading   act,   177. 

Trading  Companies,  95,  96,  176- 
179  {see  also  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  Northwest  Fur 
Company). 

Trading  posts,   27,   28. 

Trappers,   191. 

Treaties,  19,  20,  21,  39,  68,  86,  87, 


128,  129,  131,  141,  142,  216,  253, 
254   {see  also  Conventions). 

Tualatin  Plains,   203,  204,  210. 

Turner,  John,   205. 

Turnham,  Joel,  205. 

Typhus   fever,   285,  286. 

UMPQUA,   184. 

Urapqua  River,  34,   35,  36. 

United  States,  19,  20,  26,  28,  32, 
33,  38,  39,  64.  65,  66,  67,  68,  71, 
72,  85,  88,  90,  95,  100,  loi,  104, 

105,  III,  112,  113,  120,  121,  122, 
123,   125,   128,   136,  143,  147,  148, 

150,  151,  156,  157,  159,  164,  175, 
176,  177,  178,  179,  184,  185,  186, 

189,  198,  201,  2IO,  215,  216, 
220,  221,  225,  227,  232,  233,  235, 
239,  240,  248,  250,  257,  260,  265, 
266,    267,    274,    280,    282,    286. 

United    States    Senate,    104,    105, 

119,  120,  202,  260. 
University    of    Oregon,    119,    141, 

142,  143,  150,  160,  272,  278. 

VANCOUVER  Barracks,  28. 

Vancouver  (Fort),  24,  27-34,  35, 
36,  37,  39.  41,  43,  45,  46,  47,  48, 
50,  51,  53,  54,  55,  57,  58,  59,  67, 
68,  70,  71,  72,  75,  76,  77,  78,  79, 
82,  89,  91,  92,  93,  95,  98,  99,  no, 
113,  152,  170,  171,  180,  i8i,  182, 
183,  185,  190,  191,  195,  197,  199, 
200,  20t,  202,  204,  206,  208,  236, 
253,  255,  257,  258,  268,  27s,  276, 
281,    285. 

Vancouver    Island,    24. 

Vancouver,    Point,    28. 

Varney,  Captain  — ,  32. 

Vavasour,  Lieutenant  and  Cap- 
tain — ,  91,  94,  270. 

Venison,   43. 

Victor,  Frances  Fuller,  226,  270; 
The  River  of  the  West,  cited, 
97,  no,  219,  227,  271. 

Victoria  (Queen  of  England),  131, 
233,  250,  267. 


300 


Dr.  John  McLoughlin 


Virginia    (state),    84. 

WAIILATPU    (Wash.),   54- 

Wait,  Aaron  E.,  247,  248,  254. 

Walahmette  Valley,  78  {see  Wil- 
lamette Valley). 

Walamet  Valley,  269  (see  Wil- 
lamette  Valley). 

Walker, — ,   55. 

Wallace, — ,  222. 

Wallamatte  River,  266  {see  Wil- 
lamette River). 

Wallamet  Falls,  104,  163,  219 
{see  Willamette  Falls). 

Wallamette  River,  108,  115,  224 
{see  Willamette  River). 

Wallamette  Valley,  265,  284  {see 
Willamette  Valley). 

Wallammette  Falls  Settlement, 
213,   218    {see   Oregon    City). 

Walla  Walla    (Wash.),  54,  77- 

Waller,  Rev.  Alvin  F.,  106,  107, 
108,  109,  no.  III,  114,  115.  127, 
191,  205,  212,  213,  214,  215,  216, 
217,  218,  219,  220,  223,  224,  225, 
226,  227,  236,  237. 

Wappatoo    Island,    258. 

Warehouses,    109,    202. 

Warre,  Captain  — ,  91,  270. 

Wars:  67,  157,  164.  American 
Revolution,  20,  83  ;  War  of  1812, 
20,  84;  Indian,  27,  40,  84,  88, 
145,  274,  277. 

Washington,  D.  C.  (city),  21,  86, 
104,  119,  123,  130,  150,  211,  219, 
222,  223,  234,  263,  276. 

Washington  (state),  19,  54,  17°. 
211. 

Washougal    (Wash.),    28. 

Watt,  Joseph,  Recollections,  cited, 
79,   281-283. 

Webster,   Noah,  234. 
Wesleyan  Church,  U2. 
Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  112, 
{see  also  Missionaries,  and  Mis- 
sions). 


Western  Star,  cited,   144,  262. 

West,   Middle,  84. 

West  Point   (N.  Y.),  227. 

Westport    (Mo.),    58. 

Wheat,  28,  41,  42,  46,  49,  80,  118, 
122,  200,  201,  202,  210,  232,  257, 
258,  263,  268,  280. 

White,  Dr.  Elijah  (medical  mis- 
sionary), 58,  97,  104,  n8,  136, 
137,   226,    227. 

Whitman,  Dr.  Marcus,  53,  54,  60, 
73,  74,  167,  280. 

Whitman,    Mrs.    Marcus,    54. 

Whitman   massacre,   27,  40,  74. 

Wilbraham    (Mass.),    ii2. 

Wilkes, — ,    Journal,    cited,    233. 

Wilkes,  Commodore  Charles,  29, 
266,  267,  268 ;  excerpts  from  his 
Narrati've,  190-196. 

Wilkes,  George,  History  of  Ore- 
gon, cited,  75. 

Willamette,   130,    131,   205. 

Willamette  Falls,  106,  iii,  114, 
117,  119,  136,  200,  202,  219,  235. 

Willamette  Milling  and  Trading 
Companies,  141,  142. 

Willamette  River,  28,  49,   52,   75, 

102,  107,  114,  136,  181,  182,  183, 
185,  186,  192,  193,  199,  200,  230, 
233,  236,  258,  286. 

Willamette  Valley,  37,  39,  42,  44, 
46,   55,  64,  70,  77,  88,  89,   I02, 

103,  116,  136,  140,  191,  211,  232, 
269. 

William  and  Ann    (ship),  35,  38. 

William    (Fort),   24,   47. 

Williams,   R.,   205. 

Willson,  W.  H.,  205. 

Wilson,  Albert  E.,   116,  206,   208, 

209,  211. 
Wilson,  E.  C,  204. 
Winthrop,  Robert  C,  144,  256,  258, 

260. 
Wrecks,  35,  45,  194,  196  {see  also 

Ships). 
Wyeth,  Captain  Nathaniel  J.,  32, 


Index 


301 


45,  46,  47,  49,  54,  57,  "7,  i44, 

YAKIMA   (Indians),  274. 

181,  182,  183,  196,  199;  Journal 

Yatten,    Joseph,    205. 

cited,  45,  46,  47,  48 ;   letters  to, 

Yerba    Buena,    25,    69     {see    San 

256,   257,   260;    letters   by,   257- 

Francisco). 

259,  260,  261. 

Young,  Ewing,  50,  51,  52,  64,  204. 

Wygant,    Mrs.    Theodore,    25. 

Young,  Frederic  G.,  272,  279. 

Wyoming   (state),  20. 

€arlj>  Wtiittm  Crabelsf 

17484846 

^  SERIES  OF  ANNOTATED  REPRINTS 

of  some  of  the  best  and  rarest  contemporary  volumes  of  Travel,  descrip- 
tive of  the  Aborigines  and  Social  and  Economic  Conditions  in  the  Middle 
and  Far  West  during  the  Period  of  Early  American  Settlement. 

COMPRISES  THE  FOLLOWING  VOLUMES 

1 — ^Veise^'s  Jonrnalof  a  Tour  to  the  Ohio  in  1748.  11,  12 — Faux's  Tour  to   the   United  States.    1819- 

Croehan's  Tours  into    the    Western   Country,  1820.      'Welby's   Visit   to   North   America    an4 

17S0-1765.     Post's     Western    Tours.     1758-59.  Illinois.  1819-1820. 

Morris's  Journal  reUtive  to  bis  TbriUine  Experj-  13— Nuttall's  Trareli  into  Arkansas  Territory.  1819. 

encesontheMaumeeinl764.             ,  ,.       ,  14,  15,   16,  17— S.  H.  Long's   Expedition  from 

2— Lons  s  Voyages  and  Trarels  of  an  Indian  Inter-  pittsbure  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  1819-1820 

3-Saux  K^)  T^v-So  Kentucky  in  1795-  ^^sri!.*ufs' to^hrp"acifi?78^'ri8 '7'''''"'°"  '"^ 

96.     Michaux  (F.   A.)   Travel,  to  the  West  of  ._  ^^""  " '^^.^""^t*  ^^M^'L 

the  AUeehanies.   1802.     Harris's  Tour  into  the  l»,^0—Ogdens  Tour  through  the  Western  Country, 
Territory  Northwest  of  the  Alleghanies.  1803.  1821-1823.     Bullock  s  Journey  through  Western 

4— Cuming's   Tour   to   the  Western  Country,  etc..  States.  1827.     Gregg  8  Commerce  of  the  Frames, 

1807-1809.  „,    1831-1839. 

5 — Bradbury's  Travels  in  the  Interior  of  America,  21 — 'Wyeth's  Journey  from  Atlantic  to  Pacific,  1832. 
1809-lSll.  Townsend's   Journey    across   the    Rockies    to 

6— Brackenridge's  Voyage  up  the  Missouri,  1811.  Columbia  River,  1834. 

Franchere's  Voyage  to  the  N.  W.  Coast.  1811-  22,  23,  24,  25— Maximilian,  Prince  of  'Wied- 
1814.  Neu>vied's    Travels    in   the    Interior  of    North 

7 — Ross's    Adventures  of  the   First  Settlers   on   the  America  with  folio  Atlas,  1843. 

Oregon.  1810-13.  26,  27— Flagg's  Far  West.  1836-1837.     DeSmet's 

8— Buttrick's    Voyages,   Travels,    and    Discoveries,  Le,„„  .nj   Sketches,    Residence    among    Indian 

1812-19.     Evans  s  Tour  of  4000  miles  through  Tribes   1841-1842 

Q_^"I^™T^'"'"  f"**  "^.""'"""'isfB^s^n  28,  29-Farnham's  Travels  in  the  Great  Western 

9-Fhnt's  letters  from  America    1818.-1820  ^^^^.  jg,,     ^    g^     ,  .    . 

lO-Hulme's  Tour  in  the  West  (Ohio.  Indiana,  and  ^„j  ^.^^^l     1845.1846. 

Illinois),  1818.     Flower's  Letters  from  Lexington  or>_i-.   1         .     .,-        .  u      „     ,       >. 

and  Illinois,  1819.    Flower's  Letters  from  Illinois,  ^*^,?fc™'^A^  ^"'''''  ""^  ""^   ^'^^"^   Mountains, 

1820-1821.       Woods's    Residence    in     English  1845-1846. 

Prairie,  lUinois,  1820-1821.  31— Index  to  the  Series. 

Edited  nvith  Historical^  Geographicaly  Ethnological,  and 
Bibliographical  Notes,  and  Introductions  and  Index,  by 

Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  ll.  d. 

With  facsimiles  of  the  original  title-pages,  maps,  portraits,  views,  etc. 
31  volumes,  large  8vo,  cloth,  uncut,  gilt  tops.  Price,  $4  net  per  volume 
(except  the  Atlas,  which  is  $15  net). 

An    Elaborate   Analytical  Index   to  the    Whole 

Almost  all  the  rare  originals  are  unindexed.  In  the  present  reprint  series,  this  immense 
mass  of  historical  data  will  be  made  accessible  through  one  exhaustive  analytical  index. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  A  FEW  OF  THE  REVIEWS 

jiMERICJN  HISTORICAL  REVIEM^!  "The  books  are  handsomely  bound  and  printed.  The  editing 
by  Dr.  Thwaites  seems  to  have  been  done  with  his  customary  care  and  knowledge.  There  is  no  want  of 
helpful  annotations.  The  books  therefore  are  likely  to  be  of  more  real  value  than  the  early 
prints  from  which  they  are  taken." 

THE  OUTLOOK:     "Dr.  Thwaites  is  the  best  possible  editor  who  could  have  been  chosen  for  such  a  task." 

"The  student  of  society,   as  well  as  the  historian,  can  profit  by  the  perusal  of  these  travels;     .     .     . 
they  present,  as  is  nowhere  else  so  well  presented,   the  picture  of  society  in  the  making  in  the  .Americao 
back  country." — Frederick  J.  Turner  in  the  Dial. 
THE  NATION:     "Thoroughly  interesting,  as  well  as  historically  valuable." 

Fu//  descriptive  circulars  giving  the  contents 
of  each  volume  may  be  had  on  application. 


DOCUMENTARY  HISTORY  OF 

RECONSTRUCTION 

Political,  Military,  Social, 

Religious,  Educational  &'  Industrial 

1865  to  the  Present  Time 

SELECTED  AND  EDITED  BY 

WALTER  L.  FLEMING,  Ph.  D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY  IN  WEST  VIRGINIA  UNIVERSITY 

Printed  en  a  specially  made  paper^  illustrated  with  facsimiles^  two  volumts^ 
large  8vo,   {about  900 pages) ,  clothe  uncut^  gilt  tops.   Price  per  set,  $10.00  net. 

This  work  has  been  prepared  in  response  to  a  demand  on  the  part  of 
students  and  thoughtful  readers  for  an  adequate  collection  of  historical 
material  which  shall 

1st.     Present  the  original  sources,  which  alone  give  the  true 

emiemporary  conditions,   and  allow  the  reader  to  make  his  own 

interpretation  of  the  facts. 

2nd.     Comprehend  all  phases  of  the  progress  and  results  «f 

Reconstruction,  social  and  economic,  as  well  as  political. 

3rd.     Exhibit  not  only  the  national  aspects  but  also  the  local 

conditions  of  Reconstruction,  in  all  the  States. 

PROFESSOR  Fleming  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  fore- 
most authorities  in  the  country  on  the  Reconstruction 
Period.  The  excellence  of  his  previous  contributions  on 
special  topics  in  this  field  is  sufficient  guarantee  of  the 
value  of  the  present  comprehensive  work. 

"It  is  certainly  a  most  interesting  and  important  plan." — W^oodrow  Wilson. 

"Every  student  .  .  .  will  rejoice  over  this  addition  to  his  facilities  for  intelligent 
appreciation  of  the  great  interests  involved  in  the  sectional  struggle  of  1861-186S, 
and  its  aftermath." — Chicago  Evening  Post. 

"I  feel  sure  that  your  work  will  be  of  great  interest  and  benefit  to  the  future 
historian." — Thomas  Nelson  Page. 


Fu//  descriptive  circular  and  list  of  documents 
will  be  sent  by  the  publishers  on  application. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 

THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


lmi9  194* 

JAN  1 0  1947 
JAN  5     1951  i 

JUN  1  0  19S^ 

l^y  S  0  1951 

,FEB  1  0  195e> 

MAY  3     1959 

REC'D  LD-URO 
"Mm    DEC  9    I9S; 

"  OCT  27 1385 


Form  L-fi 
>  aom-l,"  41(1122) 


OCT  d      -i^i 


uma* 


UBRART 


P880 
M22H7     Holnian  - 
_cop.2     Dr.   John 


McLoughlin. 


F880 
M22H7 
cop.  2 


3  1158  01051  3553 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  161  665    3 


